Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have captured a beautiful new image of the planetary nebula Abell 33.
This image shows the planetary nebula Abell 33. Image credit: ESO.
Most stars with masses similar to that of our Sun will end their lives as white dwarfs – small, very dense, and hot bodies that slowly cool down over billions of years.
On the way to the final phase of their lives the stars throw their atmospheres out into the space and create planetary nebulae, colorful glowing clouds of gas surrounding the small, bright stellar relics.
This new image from VLT shows the remarkably round and large planetary nebula Abell 33.
The object, also known as PN A66 33, is located in the constellation of Hydra, about 2,500 light years away from Earth. It lies very close to a 7th magnitude star, HD 83535.
HD 83535 lies in the foreground of Abell 33, between Earth and the nebula, in just the right place to make this view even more beautiful. Together, the nebula and the star create a sparkling diamond ring.
The remnant of Abell 33’s progenitor star, on its way to becoming a white dwarf, can be seen just slightly off-center inside the nebula, visible as a tiny white pearl.
It is still bright – more luminous than our own Sun – and emits enough UV-radiation to make the bubble of expelled atmosphere glow.
Abell 33 is just one of the 86 objects included in astronomer Dr George Abell’s 1966 Abell Catalogue of Planetary Nebulae.
Dr George Abell also scoured the skies for galaxy clusters, compiling the Abell Catalogue of over 4,000 of these clusters in both the northern and southern hemispheres of the sky.
