Apr. 2, 2013 ? A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows Jonckheere 900 or J 900, a planetary nebula -- glowing shells of ionized gas pushed out by a dying star. Discovered in the early 1900s by astronomer Robert Jonckheere, the dusty nebula is small but fairly bright, with a relatively evenly spread central region surrounded by soft wispy edges.
Despite the clarity of this Hubble image, the two objects in the picture above can be confusing for observers. J 900's nearby companion, a faint star in the constellation of Gemini, often causes problems for observers because it is so close to the nebula -- when observation conditions are bad, this star seems to merge into J 900, giving it an elongated appearance. Hubble's position above the Earth's atmosphere means that this is not an issue for the space telescope.
Astronomers have also mistakenly reported observations of a double star in place of these two objects, as the planetary nebula is quite small and compact.
J 900's central star is only just visible in this image, and is very faint -- fainter than the nebula's neighbor. The nebula appears to display a bipolar structure, where there are two distinct lobes of material emanating from its center, enclosed by a bright oval disk.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/kMnYyBDbXrY/130402101919.htm
taxes game of thrones season 2 trailer sag award winners girl scout cookies screen actors guild royal rumble results sag awards 2012
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন