Image:NGC7293 (2004).jpg

The Helix Nebula

a Gaseous Envelope Expelled By a Dying Star

From http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2004/32/

About the Object

• Object Name: Helix Nebula, NGC 7293
• Object Description: Planetary Nebula
• Position (J2000): R.A. 22h 29m 48.20s

Dec. -20° 49' 26.0"

• Constellation: Aquarius
• Distance: About 690 light-years (213 parsecs)
• Dimensions: The image is roughly 287 arcminutes (5.6 light-years or 1.7 parsecs) across.

About the Data

• Data Description: The HST data are from proposal 9700. Processed images may be obtained from the Helix MAST web site. The Hubble Helix Team includes M. Meixner, H.E. Bond, G. Chapman (STScI), Y.-H. Chu (U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), P. Cox (Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, France), W. Crothers, L.M. Frattare, R.Gilliland (STScI), M. Guerrero R. Gruendl (U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), F. Hamilton, (STScI), R.Hook (STScI/ESO), P. Huggins (New York Univ.), I. Jordan, C.D. Keyes, A. Koekemoer (STScI), K.Kwitter (Williams College), Z.G. Levay, P.R. McCullough, M. Mutchler, K. Noll (STScI), C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), N. Panagia, M. Reinhart, M. Robberto, K. Sahu, D. Soderblom, L. Stanghellini, C. Tyler, J. Valenti, A. Welty, R. Williams (STScI). The CTIO data were taken by C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University) and L.M. Frattare (STScI). The science team includes C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), P.R. McCullough and M. Meixner (STScI).

• Instrument: ACS/WFC Mosaic II Camera on CTIO 4m telescope
• Exposure Date(s): November 19, 2002 September 17/18, 2003
• Exposure Time: 4.5 hours 10 minutes
• Filters: F502N ([O III]), F658N (Ha) c6009 (H alpha), kc6014 ([O III])

About the Image

• Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University)
• Release Date: December 16, 2004

Copyright information

• News Release Number: STScI-2004-32

Image properties

• Taken from large-scale tiff file at http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2004/32/image/d/warn/
• Centered on white dwarfed and cropped
• Downsampled to 3200x3200
• Saved as jpg, quality 8/10, 5 scans
• Stitching errors manually fixed

This file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA and the European Space Agency. Hubble material is copyright-free and may be freely used as in the public domain without fee, on the condition that NASA and ESA is credited as the source of the material. The material was created for NASA by STScI under Contract NAS5-26555 and for ESA by the Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre. [1] or [2].

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