New images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ESA’s Euclid mission have revealed the complex, multi-shell structure of the extraordinary planetary nebula NGC 6543, also known as the Cat’s Eye Nebula.
In this image, Euclid captures a panoramic view of the Cat’s Eye Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Euclid Consortium / J.-C. Cuillandre & E. Bertin, CEA Paris-Saclay / Z. Tsvetanov.
The Cat’s Eye Nebula is located about 4,300 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Draco.
The object has captivated astronomers for decades with its elaborate and multilayered structure.
“Planetary nebulae, so-called because of their round shape when viewed through early telescopes, are in fact expanding gas thrown off by stars in their final stages of evolution,” Hubble and ESA astronomers said in a statement.
“It was the Cat’s Eye Nebula itself where this fact was first discovered in 1864, examining the spectrum of its light reveals the emission from individual molecules that’s characteristic of a gas, distinguishing planetary nebulae from stars and galaxies.”
In the near-infrared and visible-light image from Euclid, the arcs and filaments of the nebula’s bright central region are situated within a halo of colorful fragments of gas zooming away from the star.
“This ring was ejected from the star at an earlier stage, before the main nebula at the center formed,” the astronomers said.
“The whole nebula stands out against a backdrop teeming with distant galaxies, demonstrating how local astrophysical beauty and the farthest reaches of the cosmos can be seen together in modern astronomical surveys.”
In this image, Hubble captures the very core of the billowing gas in the Cat’s Eye Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Z. Tsvetanov.
Within this broad view of the nebula and its surroundings, Hubble captured the very core of the billowing gas with high-resolution visible-light images.
“The data reveal a tapestry of concentric shells, jets of high-speed gas and dense knots sculpted by shock interactions, features that appear almost surreal in their intricacy,” the researchers said.
“These structures are believed to record episodic mass loss from the dying star at the nebula’s center, creating a kind of cosmic ‘fossil record’ of its final evolutionary stages.”
“Combining the focused view of Hubble with Euclid’s deep field observations not only highlights the nebula’s exquisite structure but also places it within the broader context of the Universe that both space telescopes explore.”
“Together, these missions provide a rich and complementary view of NGC 6543 — revealing the delicate interplay between stellar end-of-life processes and the vast surrounding space.”
