Helix Nebula with annotated features
Looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to celestial objects like galaxies and nebulas. These objects are so far away that astronomers cannot see their three-dimensional structure. The Helix Nebula, for example, resembles a doughnut in colorful images.
Credit:NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), and M. Meixner, P. McCullough, and G. Bacon ( Space Telescope Science Institute)
About the Image
About the Object
| Name: | Helix Nebula, IRAS 22267-2102, NGC 7293 |
| Type: | Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary |
| Distance: | 700 light years |
| Category: | Nebulae |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
|---|---|---|
| Optical OIII | 502 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
| Optical H-alpha | 658 nm | CTIO Mosaic II |
| Optical OIII | 502 nm | CTIO Mosaic II |
| Optical H-alpha | 658 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Notes: Additional data captured by the Mosaic II Camera on the 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO).