Dying star resembles a billowing crystal ball in new telescope photo
NOIRLab said the nebula formed when one star in a two-star system shed its outer layers and lit a cloud 1,500 light-years away.
- On Thursday, the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab released a new image of the Crystal Ball Nebula, formally known as NGC 1514, captured by the Gemini North Telescope atop Hawaii's Mauna Kea.
- Located 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus, this planetary nebula forms when a dying star sheds its outer gas layers near the end of its life.
- The system consists of two stars orbiting each other every nine years, with NOIRLab stating their "strong, asymmetrical winds" mold the expanding gas into complex, lumpy layers.
- NOIRLab described the nebula as a "window into the cosmic past"; light from the system took 1,500 years to reach Earth, revealing the stars as they existed long ago.
- Data for this image was collected by Gemini North on Hawaii's Mauna Kea mountain last year and processed into color last week, completing the multi-stage observation pipeline.
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Associated Press News
Dying star resembles a billowing crystal ball in new telescope photo
A dying star has never looked so lovely. A telescope atop Hawaii's tallest peak, Mauna Kea, captured the star in its last gasps. The image was released Thursday.
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Gemini North Telescope Explores the Mysteries of the Crystal Ball Nebula
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A stunning new image from the 8.1-m Gemini North telescope, located on the summit of Maunakea in Hawai’i, reveals the Crystal Ball Nebula in unprecedented detail: a lumpy, glowing sphere of gas sculpted by a pair of stars. The post Gemini North Telescope Peers into Crystal Ball Nebula appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
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