The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, for its acronym in English), brings us a new impressive image, as its Hubble space telescope has now captured one of the famous and old Cat’s Eye Nebula.
According to the POTthe nebula Cat Eye, was one of the first planetary nebulae to be discovered by humans. It is worth mentioning that planetary nebulae form when stars expel their outer layers of gas, resulting in very striking shapes of rings and knots.
The US space agency explained that each visible “ring” is the outer edge of a spherical dust bubble.
Besides, the POT explains that the nebula Cat Eye It is characterized by having eleven visible layers, each created by its stars expelling mass at intervals of 1,500 years, resulting in onion-like rings. The mass of each dust sphere is equal to the sum of all the planets in our solar system combined.
In the image, the light orange and blue color that contrasts with the black background of space is notable, in addition to its impressive eleven rings, which change color from blue to orange. The POT explains that this happens as they reach the gas bubbles knotted in the center.
What is a planetary nebula?
The doctor in physics, Verania Echaide Navarro, from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN)explained to the specialized magazine, National Geographic, that the planetary nebulae These are astronomical objects that are formed when a star similar to the Sun runs out of nuclear fuel and begins to expel its outer layers into space.
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The expert explains that, although they are named as planetary nebulae, these are not at all related to the planets. The reason for their name is because, when they were discovered centuries ago, they looked like small round spots in ancient telescopes, which resembled the planetary system of our solar system.