Mostly Mute Monday: The Cat’s-Eye Nebula (Synopsis)

“I lie on the floor, washed by nothing and hanging on. I cry at night. I am afraid of hearing voices, or a voice. I have come to the edge, of the land. I could get pushed over.” -Margaret Atwood

We had a great run with Messier Monday, followed by a fun mini-series on Mini-Movie Monday, but now it's time to shake things up.

Image credit: Nordic Optical Telescope and Romano Corradi (Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, Spain), via http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0414b/. Image credit: Nordic Optical Telescope and Romano Corradi (Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, Spain), via http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0414b/.

Starting today, I present to you a new, ongoing series: Mostly Mute Monday. The rules are as follows:

  • I pick one object or phenomenon to focus on.
  • The story is told entirely in visuals: images and/or silent videos. (Credits do not count.)
  • The visuals showcase as much information about the object(s) as possible.
  • At the end, I have a maximum of 200 words to explain what we've seen.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, HEIC, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), via http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_211.html. Image credit: NASA, ESA, HEIC, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), via http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_211.html.

Come enjoy the very first one -- on the Cat's Eye Nebula -- over on Medium.

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If the Star burns all it's hydrogen up, how can the nebula contain hydrogen, or helium for that matter?
Thanks

By Ragtag Media (not verified) on 26 Jan 2015 #permalink

Ragtag:
Unless the star is convectively mixed through, the outer layers never get hot (or dense) enough to undergo fusion. These outer layers contribute to the nebula in nearly pristine form the gas from which the star was formed long ago.

By Omega Centauri (not verified) on 26 Jan 2015 #permalink

This site is getting me through the winter! I love it Great Job!!!!