Post by glactus on Jan 27, 2009 10:43:08 GMT
The Blinking Eye nebula
NGC 6826 is a planetary nebula about 2200 light years away, in the constellation of Cygnus. Magnitude is 8.8
The Blinking Eye nebula is so named because when viewed through a small telescope the nebula appears to blink or disappear as the observer scans the eyepiece.
A feature visible in this image are two bright patches in the ring on opposite sides of the central star, known as FLIERs, or fast low-ironization emission regions.
These regions are moving at supersonic speeds and are apparantly relatively young in comparison to their parent nebula.
As with all planetary nebula, it's the remnant of a red giant star which ejected its outer gaseous shell leaving behind a hot dense white dwarf.
It's been estimated that 95% of all stars, including our own sun, will end their lives in this way.
Credits: This is a NASA/Hubble image