Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: A. Pagan (STScI)

A new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope of a portion of the Helix Nebula highlights comet-like knots, fierce stellar winds, and layers of gas shed off by a dying star interacting with its surrounding environment. Webb’s image also shows the stark transition between the hottest gas to the coolest gas as the shell expands out from the central white dwarf.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/helix-nebula-nircam/

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: https://www.stsci.edu/copyright