#ngc 3918

[spinningblueball]

NGC 3918

A planetary nebula in the constellation of Centaurus 4,900 light years away...

[chibinotan]

Dying Red Giant

[the-telescope-times]

Celestial 'Eye' Stares Back at Earth in Dazzling Hubble Telescope Photo

Many people enjoy gazing at the night sky, and once in a while, something up there appears to look right back at us.

Planetary nebula NGC 3918 shines brightly in a dazzling new photo that NASA described in a statement Aug. 24. The space agency calls the nebula a "celestial eye," and a little creativity makes it easy to see why: The rounded and expanded clouds of dust and gas look like a fluorescent iris in the heavens, the white dwarf shining brightly in the center could pass as a glimmering pupil, and the whisker-like edges resemble cosmic eyelashes.

Stars like the sun will likely end up as planetary nebulas when they die. And as spectacular as these formations are, they're gone in a cosmic blink of an eye. Planetary nebulas like NGC 3918 exist for just a few tens of thousands of years, according to NASA. [Spectacular Nebula Photos from Deep Space]

This nebula is found in the southern sky about 4,900 light-years from Earth, within the constellation Centaurus (the centaur), and its irregular shapes are still not fully explained.

The Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 took this image, released Aug. 2, 2010, which shows different regions of glow. The bright innermost shell contrasts with the softer-colored outer shell, and according to Hubble representatives, studies show these are ejections that formed at the same time but are moving away from the star at different speeds.

In addition, mighty jets of gas stream from the ends of the nebula; scientists estimate that this gas is speeding across space at speeds of about 218,000 mph (350,000 km/h). ~ space.com

Image: Planetary nebula NGC 3918 shines bright like a cosmic eye. It's found in the southern sky, within the constellation Centaurus. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

[the-telescope-times]

A piercing celestial eye stares back at Hubble

This dramatic image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the planetary nebula NGC 3918, a brilliant cloud of colorful gas in the constellation of Centaurus, around 4,900 light-years from Earth.                                

In the center of the cloud of gas, and completely dwarfed by the nebula, are the dying remnants of a red giant. During the final convulsive phase in the evolution of these stars, huge clouds of gas are ejected from the surface of the star before it emerges from its cocoon as a white dwarf. The intense ultraviolet radiation from the tiny remnant star then causes the surrounding gas to glow like a fluorescent sign. These extraordinary and colorful planetary nebulas are among the most dramatic sights in the night sky, and often have strange and irregular shapes, which are not yet fully explained.

NGC 3918's distinctive eye-like shape, with a bright inner shell of gas and a more diffuse outer shell that extends far from the nebula, looks as if it could be the result of two separate ejections of gas. But this is in fact not the case: studies of the object suggest that they were formed at the same time, but are being blown from the star at different speeds. The powerful jets of gas emerging from the ends of the large structure are estimated to be shooting away from the star at speeds of up to 217,500 miles (350,000 kilometers) per hour.

By the standards of astronomical phenomena, planetary nebulas like NGC 3918 are very short-lived, with a lifespan of just a few tens of thousands of years.

The image is a composite of visible and near-infrared snapshots taken with Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2.

~ phys.org/news/

Image credit: NASA/ESA/HST

[josevte72]

La nebulosa planetaria NGC 3918, una brillante nube de gas

La nebulosa planetaria NGC 3918, una brillante nube de gas

Esta maravillosa imagen muestra la nebulosa planetaria NGC 3918, en el centro de la nube de gas están los restos moribundos de una gigante roja que envió al espacio parte de sus capas, quedando en el centro una enana blanca. La intensa radiación ultravioleta de la pequeña estrella remanente hace que el gas circundante brille enormemente. Estas extraordinarias y coloridas nebulosas planetarias se…

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[netmassimo]

A new image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the planetary nebula NGC 3918, nicknamed the "Blue Planetary" or "The Southerner". Its shape in some ways reminds of an eye with special colors and seeing it is a lucky event because it will not last long in astronomical terms since this phase will end within a few tenth of millennia.

[netmassimo]

Una nuova immagine catturata dal telescopio spaziale Hubble mostra la nebulosa planetaria NGC 3918, soprannominata "Planetaria Blu". La sua forma ricorda per certi versi quella di un occhio dai colori particolari e vederla è un evento fortunato perché non durerà molto in termini astronomici dato che questa fase terminerà nel giro di qualche decina di millenni.

[kosmos-x]

Планетарная туманность NGC 3918 глазами космического телескопа «Хаббл»

Новое изображение, опубликованное специалистами, работающими с данными космического телескопа «Ха... Читать дальше »