tagged with: star nurseries, star clusters, starfields, helix nebula, astronomy pictures, outer space exploration, universe photography, sky watching, astronomy images, helixneb, european southern observatory, nebulae galaxies, vista, eso
Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A fantastic colour-composite image of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), also known as The Eye of God. The blue-green glow in the centre of the Helix comes from oxygen atoms shining under effects of the intense ultraviolet radiation of the 120 000 degree Celsius central star and the hot gas.
Further out from the star and beyond the ring of knots, the red colour from hydrogen and nitrogen is more prominent. A careful look at the central part of this object reveals not only the knots, but also many remote galaxies seen right through the thinly spread glowing gas.
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image code: helixneb
ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
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