#m2-9

[euphorictruths]

Wings Of A Butterfly Nebula (M2-9)

[happy-little-elf]

M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula

(source)

[therealuniverse]

M2-9: THE TWIN JET NEBULA M2-9 is 2100 light years away and over one light year across. It is in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus and is known as a butterfly planetary nebula. It is a low mass star like our Sun, but is in the final throes of its life. While dying, stars like this transform from normal stars to white dwarfs, casting off their outer gaseous layers. This expended gas then can form a planetary nebula that fades over thousands of years. In the centre of this planetary nebula are two stars orbiting inside a gaseous disk which is 10 times the orbit of Pluto. The gas expelled from the dying star escapes the disk and creates the bipolar appearance; the measured velocity of this gas is approximately 322 kilometres per second. Ground-based studies show that the nebula's size increases with time, which suggests that the stellar outburst that formed the 'wings' occurred just 1,200 years ago. -TEL http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050612.html; http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo9738a/ Image credit: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Vincent Icke (Leiden University, The Netherlands), Garrelt Mellema (Stockholm University), and NASA/ESA

[spinningblueball]

M2-9 Butterfly Nebula

[the-telescope-times]

M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula

   Are stars better appreciated for their art after they die?   Actually, stars usually create their most artistic displays as they die.  

In the case of low-mass stars like our Sun and M2-9 pictured above, the stars transform themselves from normal stars to white dwarfs by casting off their outer gaseous envelopes.  

The expended gas frequently forms an impressive display called a planetary nebula that fades gradually over thousands of years.  

M2-9, a butterfly planetary nebula 2100 light-years away shown in representative colors, has wings that tell a strange but incomplete tale.

In the center, two stars orbit inside a gaseous disk 10 times the orbit of Pluto.   The expelled envelope of the dying star breaks out from the disk creating the bipolar appearance.

Much remains unknown about the physical processes that cause planetary nebulae.

~ apod.nasa.gov

[9ben]

La nebulosa M2-9 (también conocida como nebulosa de los Chorros Gemelos, nebulosa Alas de Mariposa o simplemente nebulosa Mariposa) es una nebulosa planetaria en la constelación de Ofiuco distante unos 2100 años luz de la Tierra. Es una nebulosa bipolar con dos lóbulos de material emitidos por la estrella central. Se estima que la capa exterior tiene unos 1200 años de edad.

La nebulosa M2-9 muestra las etapas finales de un estrella binaria. Situada en el centro de la nebulosa, las componentes son una estrella gigante y una enana blanca caliente con un período orbital de 120 años. Se piensa que la enana blanca cuando se encontraba en la secuencia principal era una estrella no muy distinta del Sol; tras pasar por la etapa de gigante roja, expulsó sus capas externas al espacio, quedando únicamente el remanente estelar. La velocidad del gas en expansión supera los 320 km/s.

El estudio de la nebulosa a lo largo de los años muestra un desplazamiento de sus características visibles de oeste a este. Su origen puede ser un rayo de energía giratorio que atraviesa el material que forma la nebulosa. Se cree que el rayo es colimado por la interacción de los vientos estelares del sistema binario.

[chibinotan]

Ophiuchus

[aeontriad]

M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula