Cometary Knots around a Dying Star

esahubble_opo9613b April 15th, 1996

Credit: Robert O'Dell, Kerry P. Handron (Rice University, Houston, Texas) and NASA/ESA

These gigantic, tadpole-shaped objects are probably the result of a dying star's last gasps. Dubbed 'cometary knots' because their glowing heads and gossamer tails resemble comets, the gaseous objects probably were formed during a star's final stages of life.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo9613b/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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Image Details

Image Type: Observation
Object Name: Helix Nebula • NGC 7293
Subject - Milky Way: Nebula > Type > Planetary

Position Details

Position (ICRS): RA = 22h 29m 36.9s; DEC = -20° 47’ 54.9”
Orientation: North is 151.9° CCW
Field of View: 0.8 x 1.1 arcminutes
Constellation: Aquarius

Color Mapping

Telescope	Spectral Band	Wavelength
Hubble (WFPC2)	Optical (Nii)	658.0 nm
Hubble (WFPC2)	Optical (H-alpha)	656.0 nm
Hubble (WFPC2)	Optical (V)	500.0 nm

ID: opo9613b
Subject Category: B.4.1.3
Subject Name: Helix Nebula, NGC 7293
Credits: Robert O'Dell, Kerry P. Handron (Rice University, Houston, Texas) and NASA/ESA

Release Date: 1996-04-15T06:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo9613b/

Type: Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes

Facility: Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument: WFPC2, WFPC2, WFPC2
Color Assignment: Green, Green, Blue

Band: Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass: Nii, H-alpha, V
Central Wavelength: 658, 656, 500

Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes

Coordinate Frame: ICRS
Equinox: J2000
Reference Value: 337.403695941, -20.7985792099
Reference Dimension: 502.0, 656.0

Reference Pixel: 251.0, 328.0
Scale: -2.76973868279e-05, 2.76973868279e-05
Rotation: 151.8599999999999
Coordinate System Projection:: TAN

Quality: Full
FITS Header
Notes

Creator (Curator): ESA/Hubble
URL: http://www.spacetelescope.org/
Name
Email

Telephone
Address: Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City: Garching bei München
State/Province

Postal Code: D-85748
Country: Germany
Rights: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Publisher: ESA/Hubble
Publisher ID: esahubble
Resource ID: opo9613b

Resource URL: http://www.spacetelescope.org/static/archives/images/original/opo9613b.tif
Related Resources

Metadata Date: 2003-12-09T17:46:07+01:00
Metadata Version: 1.1

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

There is no distance meta data in this image.