1404/01/26 - 16 شوال 1446 - 2025/04/15
العربیة فارسی

Astronomical Research Center (A.R.C.)

صورة اليوم الفلکیة

Planetary Nebula NGC 1514 from Webb
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, M. E. Ressler (JPL) et al.; Processing: Judy Schmidt

Explanation: What happens when a star runs out of nuclear fuel? For stars like our Sun, the center condenses into a white dwarf while the outer atmosphere is expelled into space to appear as a planetary nebula. The expelled outer atmosphere of planetary nebula NGC 1514 appears to be a jumble of bubbles -- when seen in visible light. But the view from the James Webb Space Telescope in infrared, as featured here, confirms a different story: in this light the nebula shows a distinct hourglass shape, which is interpreted as a cylinder seen along a diagonal. If you look closely at the center of the nebula, you can also see a bright central star that is part of a binary system. More observations might better reveal how this nebula is evolving and how the central stars are working together to produce the interesting cylinder and bubbles observed.