Friday, December 30, 2005

The Little Ghost Nebula - Courtesy Nasa/Hubble Heritage

A dying star expels its outer layers, creating a planetary nebula . so called because it resembles a planet when seen with a small telescope. NGC 6369's blue-green ring marks the location where energetic ultraviolet light has stripped electrons from oxygen atoms in the gas.

Asteroid Ida - Courtesy Nasa/JPL

Black Widow Nebula - Courtesy Nasa/JPL

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

NGC 1512 - Courtesy Nasa/JPL

Lagoon Nebula

Vela Pulsar X Ray - Courtesy Nasa/JPL

The Helix Nebula NGC 7293 - Courtesy Nasa/Esa

This detailed picture of the Helix Nebula shows a fine web of filaments, like the spokes of a bicycle, embedded in the colorful red and blue gas ring around this dying star. The Helix Nebula is one of the nearest planetary nebulae to Earth, only 650 light years away.

Cone Nebula - NGC 2264

Alfa Centaurus - Courtesy Nasa/JPL

Nebula IC 2944

Dark clouds of dust, called globules, are silhouetted against nearby, bright stars. Little is known about the globules, except that they are generlly associated with areas of star formation.