In about 5 billion years, our Sun will run out of fuel and expand, possibly engulfing Earth. These end stages of a star’s life can be utterly beautiful – as is the case with this planetary nebula called the Helix Nebula. Astronomers study these objects by looking at all kinds of light.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/Univ Mexico/S. Estrada-Dorado et al.; Ultraviolet: NASA/JPL; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI (M. Meixner)/NRAO (T.A. Rector); Infrared: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand
This image of the Helix Nebula, released on March 4, 2025, shows a potentially destructive white dwarf at the nebula’s center: this star may have destroyed a planet. This has never been seen before – and could explain a mysterious X-ray signal that astronomers have detected from the nebula for over 40 years.
This view combines X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (magenta), optical light data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (orange, light blue), infrared data from the European Southern Observatory VISTA telescope (gold, dark blue), and ultraviolet data from GALEX (purple) of the Helix Nebula. Data from Chandra indicates that this white dwarf has destroyed a very closely orbiting planet.
Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/Univ Mexico/S. Estrada-Dorado et al.; Ultraviolet: NASA/JPL; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI (M. Meixner)/NRAO (T.A. Rector); Infrared: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand
大约在50亿年后，我们的太阳将耗尽燃料并膨胀，有可能吞没地球。恒星生命末期的阶段虽然可能具有毁灭性，但却也异常壮丽——就如这张图中呈现的螺旋星云（Helix Nebula）。天文学家通过观测各种波段的光来研究这些天体。
影像来源: X射线: NASA/CXC/SAO/Univ Mexico/S. Estrada-Dorado et al.; 紫外光: NASA/JPL; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI (M. Meixner)/NRAO (T.A. Rector); 红外光: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson; 影像处理: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand
这张于2025年3月4日发布的螺旋星云图像显示，在星云中心存在一颗具有潜在破坏力的白矮星：这颗恒星可能曾摧毁过一颗行星。这种现象前所未见，也可能解释了过去40多年来天文学家在该星云中探测到的神秘X射线信号。
图像整合了来自NASA钱德拉X射线天文台（紫红色）、哈勃太空望远镜的可见光数据（橙色和淡蓝色）、欧洲南方天文台VISTA望远镜的红外数据（金色和深蓝色），以及GALEX卫星获取的紫外线数据（紫色）。钱德拉的X射线数据显示，这颗白矮星摧毁了一颗与其轨道非常接近的行星。
影像来源: X射线: NASA/CXC/SAO/Univ Mexico/S. Estrada-Dorado et al.; 紫外光: NASA/JPL; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI (M. Meixner)/NRAO (T.A. Rector); 红外光: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson; 影像处理: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand
