The European Southern Observatory ( ESO ) has released the image above ( and video below ) of the planetary nebula known as the Southern Owl Nebula . The ghostly beauty is bring about by a medium - sized star in a brief stage near the end of its lifecycle .
Stars with flock great than eight time the Sun expire stunningly ascore collapse supernovae . Stars substantially light than the Sun endure for so long that even the first propagation to variant are still in the firm cauterize stage of their life . ace with masses in between , possiblythe Sun included , will eventually becomered giants . ruddy giant star emitstellar windsfar more muscular than the Sun ’s solar wind .
Where the Sun blows off just one - one-trillionth of a percent of its masses each year , red giant star misplace their intact tabu standard pressure as an expanding house of cards of gas . The loss of the star ’s atmosphere exposes anultraviolet - emitting core around 30,000 ° special K . The high - energy ignitor from the core ionizes the gas house of cards to create the glowing shell we see .
The name , by the room , is shoddy , since worldwide nebulae have nothing to do with planets . However , William Herscheldidn’t know that when he chose the name .
These beautiful bubbles can uprise to enormous size . PLN 283 + 25.1 , or K1 - 22 as the Southern Owl Nebula is technically acknowledge , istwo light - yearsacross , half the space from the Sun to Alpha Centauri .
Although a great many stars will go through a planetary nebula level , these beautiful objects are rarefied because the period is so short by astronomic standard , hold up just a few thousand years in the multi - billion year lifespans of the adept that produce them . After this , the gas bubbles get too far away from the star to remain illuminated . The remnant star burns on for a billion years or so before collapsing to become a tardily coolingwhite nanus .
“ The lifetime of a world-wide nebula as a fraction of a star ’s lifespan is about the same as the life of a soap bubble compared to the eld of the tyke who blow it , ” the ESOnotes .
Planetary nebulae represent a path in which the sonorous element produced within star topology can bedispersed through the galaxy , eventually becoming a new generation of champion and major planet .
The Southern Owl Nebula get its name from its resemblance toM97 , also roll in the hay as the Owl Nebula . It is much less well known than its Northern counterpart , and at 3,500 light - years aside , it is almost twice the distance . It has never before been snap in such detail .
The image has been released as part of theESO Cosmic Gemsprogram in which downtime on the telescopes that can not be used for ordinary scientific purposes is devoted to take in beautiful images to generate enthusiasm for uranology .
