Hubble's Heritage image of 'Retina Nebula' features dying star; See pics

NASA, in this month's Hubble Heritage image, has shared an awe-inspiring picture of a dying star located about 1,900 light-years away from the Earth. Captured by Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, the image shows us the side view of the nebula, an angle that highlights the intricate tendrils of dust that have been compared to the human eye's retina. According to NASA, this particular nebula has a shape of a doughnut, which formed around a dying star named IC 4406. Check out the image below.

Specialities of the 'Retina Nebula'

NASA explains that the "Retina Nebula" exhibits a high degree of symmetry as the viewer can observe that the left and right images are identical. As mentioned earlier, this Hubble image presents the doughnut-like nebula from its side making the tendrils of dust visible. "If we could fly around IC 4406 in a starship, we would see that the gas and dust form a vast doughnut of material streaming outward from the dying star", says NASA.

The intense radiation that emerges from the remnant of the dying star is confined in the nebula and the central star ionises the gas inside making the nebula glow. The blue part visible in the image shows the ionisation of oxygen atoms, while the green and red colours are emitted from the ionisation of hydrogen and nitrogen. Besides, the differences in the concentration of these three gases can also be determined by the range of colours.

Moreover, the irregular lattice of dark lanes that criss-cross the center is also among the nebula's most interesting features. According to the agencies, the "lanes" seen in the nebula are a whopping 160 times the distance between the Earth and the sun. This Hubble image follows the release of a magnificent snap featuring the 'Running Man' nebula, which surprisingly is a complex of three nebulae.

'The Running Man' Nebula

This Hubble image below is of the nebula NGC 1977, also called 'The Running Man', featuring clouds of gas and dust glowing along with the formation of a jet emerging from a new star. The region of space featured in the first image is also a portion of the nebula NGC 1977 and shows a young star named Parengo 2042 powering a jet of plasma that stretches over two light-years through space. In the second Hubble image, clouds of gas and dust can be seen glowing in what is a Herbig-Haro object known as HH 45. Tap here to read more.

Image: NASA/@Hubble