| NASA Center: |
Hubble Space Telescope Center |
|---|
| Image # : |
PRC95-01A |
|---|
| Date : |
09/18/1994
|
|---|
|
Title
The Cat's Eye Nebula
Full Description
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image shows one of the most complex
planetary nebulae ever seen, NGC 6543, nicknamed the "Cat's Eye
Nebula."
Hubble reveals surprisingly intricate structures including concentric
gas shells, jets of high-speed gas and unusual shock-induced knots of
gas. Estimated to be 1,000 years old, the nebula is a visual "fossil
record" of the dynamics and late evolution of a dying star.
A preliminary interpretation suggests that the star might be a double-star
system. The suspected companion star also might be responsible for
a pair of high-speed jets of gas that lie at right angles to this
equatorial ring. If the companion were pulling in material from a
neighboring star, jets escaping along the companion's rotation axis
could be produced.
These jets would explain several puzzling features along the periphery
of the gas lobes. Like a stream of water hitting a sand pile, the jets
compress gas ahead of them, creating the "curlicue" features and bright
arcs near the outer edge of the lobes. The twin jets are now pointing
in different directions than these features. This suggests the jets are
wobbling, or precessing, and turning on and off episodically.
This color picture, taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera-2, is a
composite of three images taken at different wavelengths. (red,
hydrogen-alpha; blue, neutral oxygen, 6300 angstroms; green, ionized
nitrogen, 6584 angstroms).
The image was taken on September 18, 1994. NGC 6543 is 3,000 light-
years away in the northern constellation Draco. The term planetary
nebula is a misnomer; dying stars create these cocoons when they lose
outer layers of gas. The process has nothing to do with planet
formation, which is predicted to happen early in a star's life.
Keywords
Hubble Space Telescope HST Wide Field and Planetary Camera WFPC Draco Constellation Cats Eye Nebula Cats Eye Nebula Planetary Nebula
Subject Category
Deep Space Studies, Hubble,
Reference Numbers
- Center:
HSTI
- Center Number:
PRC95-01A
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2000-000955
Source Information
- Creator/Photographer: NASA J.P.Harrington and K.J.Borkowski University of Maryland
- Original Source: DIGITAL
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
(Pixels) | Size
(KBytes) |
Thumbnail |
.jpg |
95 |
95 |
16 |
Small |
.jpg |
711 |
711 |
469 |
Medium |
.jpg |
1667 |
1667 |
1,797 |
Large |
.jpg |
800 |
800 |
721 |
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Updated October 31, 2002
• History Questions: NASA History Office
• Responsible NASA Official: Steve Garber
• Author: Michael Hahn. Editor: Dwayne A. Day
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