Posted on 08/05/2023 1:04:39 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: This pretty nebula lies some 1,500 light-years away, its shape and color in this telescopic view reminiscent of a robin's egg. The cosmic cloud spans about 3 light-years, nestled securely within the boundaries of the southern constellation Fornax. Recognized as a planetary nebula, egg-shaped NGC 1360 doesn't represent a beginning though. Instead it corresponds to a brief and final phase in the evolution of an aging star. In fact, visible at the center of the nebula, the central star of NGC 1360 is known to be a binary star system likely consisting of two evolved white dwarf stars, less massive but much hotter than the Sun. Their intense and otherwise invisible ultraviolet radiation has stripped away electrons from the atoms in their mutually surrounding gaseous shroud. The predominant blue-green hue of NGC 1360 seen here is the strong emission produced as electrons recombine with doubly ionized oxygen atoms.
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Nice! I haven’t seen that one before.
Beautiful. It doesn’t look real…
I see an egg and the center.
That’s a yolk son...
Beautiful!
It looks like a light is shining through the egg to reveal the wee robin growing inside.
(I love baby birds. We’ve had so many this year, fluttering around.)
Pay attention when I’m talking to ya, boy.
I wish they would include a 3D diagram of the positions of these space objects in relation to our sun. (I am very visual and slightly autistic)
In lieu of this I did some investigating. The width of our Orion Arm of the galaxy is 3,500 light years. The distance to this nebula is 1500 light years away, which is about twice as far as Rigel (which is pretty dang far for a bright star). And the width up/down of Orion Arm is 1,600 lys.
The inside shows ‘Q’ being born....
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