Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Aquarius (Aqr)  ·  Contains:  Helix Nebula  ·  NGC 7293
Helix Nebula in HOO, jprejean
Helix Nebula in HOO
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Helix Nebula in HOO

Acquisition type: Electronically-Assisted Astronomy (EAA, e.g. based on a live video feed)
Helix Nebula in HOO, jprejean
Helix Nebula in HOO
Powered byPixInsight

Helix Nebula in HOO

Acquisition type: Electronically-Assisted Astronomy (EAA, e.g. based on a live video feed)

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Description

The Helix Nebula (also known as NGC 7293 or Caldwell 63) is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius.

This object is one of the closest of all the bright planetary nebulae to Earth. The distance, measured by the Gaia mission, is 655±13 light-years.

Formed by an intermediate to low-mass star, which sheds its outer layers near the end of its evolution. Gases from the star in the surrounding space appear, from our vantage point, as if we are looking down a helix structure. The remnant central stellar core, known as the central star (CS) of the planetary nebula, is destined to become a white dwarf star.

Processed from FITs subframes in HOO from Telescope Live using PixInsight.

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Helix Nebula in HOO, jprejean