A new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope of a portion of the Helix Nebula highlights comet-like knots, fierce stellar winds, and layers of gas shed off by a dying star interacting with its surrounding environment. Webb’s image also shows the stark transition between the hottest gas to the coolest gas as the shell expands out from the central white dwarf.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has zoomed into the Helix Nebula to give an up-close view of the possible eventual fate of our own Sun and planetary system. In Webb’s high-resolution look, the structure of the gas being shed off by a dying star comes into full focus. The image reveals how stars recycle their material back into the cosmos, seeding future generations of stars and planets, as NASA explores the secrets of the universe and our place in it.
In the image from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), pillars that look like comets with extended tails trace the circumference of the inner region of an expanding shell of gas. Here, blistering winds of fast-moving hot gas from the dying star are crashing into slower moving colder shells of dust and gas that were shed earlier in its life, sculpting the nebula’s remarkable structure.
Dive deeper into the Helix Nebula with Webb.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
NASA詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜拍摄的一幅螺旋星云局部新图像，突显了彗星状结节、猛烈的恒星风，以及垂死恒星抛射出的气体层与周围环境的相互作用。韦伯的图像还展示了随着气体壳层从中心白矮星向外扩张，气体从极热到极冷之间的鲜明过渡。
影像来源: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; 影像处理: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
NASA詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜对螺旋星云进行了放大观测，让我们能近距离一窥太阳及太阳系可能面临的最终命运。在韦伯的高分辨率视野中，垂死恒星抛射出的气体结构清晰呈现。这张图像揭示了恒星如何将其物质回馈给宇宙，从而孕育下一代恒星与行星，这也正是NASA探索宇宙奥秘及人类在其中位置的使命所在。
在韦伯近红外相机（NIRCam）拍摄的图像中，带有长尾的彗星状柱体勾勒出正在膨胀的气体壳层内部区域的边缘。在这里，来自垂死恒星且快速移动的炽热气体风，正猛烈撞击着其生命早期抛射出的移动较慢的冷尘埃与气体壳层，从而塑造了星云这一非凡的结构。
影像来源: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; 影像处理: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
