Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2023 May 7
   [2]A colorful circular nebula is shown that is beige in the center, red
     further out, and gas violet rings even further out. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                         The Helix Nebula from CFHT
      Image Credit: [3]CFHT, [4]Coelum, [5]MegaCam, [6]J.-C. Cuillandre
                  ([7]CFHT) & [8]G. A. Anselmi ([9]Coelum)

   Explanation: Will our Sun look like this one day? The [10]Helix Nebula
   is one of brightest and closest examples of a [11]planetary nebula, a
   gas [12]cloud created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star. The
   outer gasses of the star [13]expelled into space appear from our
   vantage point as if we are looking down a [14]helix. The remnant
   central stellar core, destined to become a [15]white dwarf star, glows
   in light so [16]energetic it causes the previously expelled gas to
   [17]fluoresce. The [18]Helix Nebula, given a technical designation of
   [19]NGC 7293, lies about 700 [20]light-years away towards the
   [21]constellation of the Water Bearer ([22]Aquarius) and spans about
   2.5 light-years. The [23]featured picture was taken with the
   [24]Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) located atop a [25]dormant
   volcano in [26]Hawaii, [27]USA. A [28]close-up of the [29]inner edge of
   the [30]Helix Nebula shows complex gas knots of [31]unknown origin.

                     Tomorrow's picture: dancing galaxy
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [43]Robert Nemiroff ([44]MTU) & [45]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([46]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [47]Specific rights apply.
              [48]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [49]ASD at [50]NASA / [51]GSFC,
                         [52]NASA Science Activation
                           & [53]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2305/Helix2_CFHT_1917.jpg
   3. https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/
   4. https://www.coelum.com/
   5. https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/Instruments/Imaging/Megacam/
   6. https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/~jcc/
   7. http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/
   8. https://www.coelum.com/coelum/autori/giovanni-anselmi
   9. http://www.coelum.com/
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helix_Nebula
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula
  12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXNSYo8ZdoU
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200209.html
  14. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Helix.html
  15. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/dwarfs2.html
  16. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves
  17. https://youtu.be/maniMjcvS7M
  18. http://www.messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n7293.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap041229.html
  20. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html
  21. https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question9.html
  22. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarius_(constellation)
  23. https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/HawaiianStarlight/AIOM/English/CFHT-Coelum-AIOM-Mar2017.html
  24. https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/en/about/
  25. https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2189295/cat-sleeps-hilarious-position.webp?w=790&f=ec34c52c69823215278d8530cb8eeaf3
  26. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii#/media/File:Hawaii_in_United_States_(zoom)_(US50)_(-grid).svg
  27. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
  28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwAKNMC2PeM
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080413.html
  30. https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/products/01ECM7VDHPRDMC73331VG00T60.html
  31. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002ApJ...573L..55H/abstract
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230506.html
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  36. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  40. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  41. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230507
  42. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230508.html
  43. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  44. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  45. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  46. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  47. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  48. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  49. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  50. https://www.nasa.gov/
  51. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  52. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  53. http://www.mtu.edu/