Like Something Out of Harry Potter ..

Helix Nebula,
photographed by the Spitzer Space Telescope Nasa/JPL-Caltech/K. Su (University of Arizona)

The Helix Nebula is a cloud of gas with the dead star appearing as a red dot in the middle of the nebula, like a red pupil in a green monster's eye. What created this nebula?

This has surprised astronomers, because when the star died and expelled its outer layers, the dust in this system should have been blown away.

A favored explanation is that the dust is being freshly churned up by comets smashing into each other in the outer fringes of the white dwarf's system.

The dead white dwarf star lies at the centre of the Helix nebula.

Eventually, our own Sun will turn into a white dwarf.

Cited story and image.

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Harry Potter?! It looks more like the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings. In fact I've seen it photoshopped that way before. Tough cookies, Potter fans.

Morsmordre!

Here's another one.

you are dorks!

By HEAVY METAL (not verified) on 26 Sep 2008 #permalink

WIT, i am dork too :(

By HEAVY METAL (not verified) on 26 Sep 2008 #permalink