Cat's Eye Wide and Deep
Cat's Eye Wide and Deep
Credit & Copyright: Johannes Schedler (
Panther Observatory)
Explanation: The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the best known
planetary nebulae in the sky. Its more familiar outlines are seen in the the brighter central region of
this impressive wide-angle view. But the composite image also combines many short and long exposures to reveal the nebula's extremely faint halo. At an estimated distance of 3,000 light-years, the faint outer halo is over 5 light-years across.
Planetary nebulae have long been appreciated as a final phase
in the life of a sun-like star. More recently, some planetary nebulae are
found to have halos like this one, likely formed of material shrugged off during earlier episodes in the star's evolution. While the
planetary nebula phase is thought to last for around 10,000 years, astronomers estimate the age of the outer filamentary portions of this halo to be 50,000 to 90,000 years. Visible on the right, some 50 million light-years beyond the Cat's Eye, lies spiral galaxy
NGC 6552.
Cat's Eye Wide and Deep
