#ngc 5315

[spacewonder19]

 Circinus galaxy & Nebula NGC5315 in Circinus © Chandra

[chibinotan]

Final Stage

[chibinotan]

Dying Beauty

[brightestofcentaurus]

NGC 5315

NGC 5315 is a planetary nebula located about 7,000 light years away towards the constellation Circinus. The nebula is an X-ray source, not always the case for planetary nebulae. This is caused by strong stellar winds from a central star colliding with surrounding gas and dust.

Planetary nebula are the remains of a dying Sun-like star. Once the star begins to exhaust its supply of hydrogen fuel, it expands into a red giant. As it continues to die, it shrinks into a white dwarf, emitting its outer layers of material, which form a planetary nebula around the dead star. Over time, the nebula will slowly disperse into surrounding space.

Image from HubbleSite, information from Chandra.

[brightestofcentaurus]

NGC 5315

NGC 5315 is a planetary nebula located about 7,000 light years away towards the constellation Circinus. It is a source of X-rays, which is not always the case for planetary nebulae. In NGC 5315, the stellar winds from a young star near the center of the nebulae collided with material to produce the X-rays.

Planetary nebula form from dying stars around the mass of our Sun. As the stars run out of nuclear fuel, they cast off their outer layers to create a shell of material. The star finishes its evolution into a white dwarf star and the layers of material slowly expand and are eventually stripped away.

Image from HubbleSite, information from Chandra.

[astrotastic]

NGC 5315

Via