October 24, 2024
Consider this: the iron in your blood was forged in a supernova explosion billions of years ago.
NGC 7293: The Helix Nebula
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APOD published October 24, 2024. Credit: Patrick Winkler. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
A mere seven hundred light years from Earth toward the constellation Aquarius, a star is dying. The once sun-like star's last few thousand years have produced the Helix Nebula. Also known as NGC 7293, the cosmic Helix is a well studied and nearby example of a Planetary Nebula, typical of this final phase of stellar evolution. Combining narrow band data from emission lines of hydrogen atoms in red and oxygen atoms in blue-green hues, this deep image shows tantalizing details of the Helix, including its bright inner region about 3 light-years across. The white dot at the Helix's center is this Planetary Nebula's hot, dying central star. A simple looking nebula at first glance, the Helix is now understood to have a surprisingly complex geometry.
Image credit: Patrick Winkler