Helix Nebula - NGC 7293

This image is quite something, I have been working on this for a long time. I keep trying to improve it and I can say it has paid off.  The detail that I was able to bring out with the narrowband from the CDK 1000 was incredible and when added to the Image from the CDK 24 and lots of processing, it’s quite wonderful. I have posted on my site all the versions that went into this wonderful image.

 “Beauty of Death”

In the final stages of a star’s life, the comet-like columns of dust and debris seen in the core of NGC 7293were formed when the hot stellar winds and radiation expanded out into the colder shells of gas and dust.

This description by Viewspace:

Some stars die slowly, giving off puffs of gas and dust known as planetary nebulas to reveal small white dwarfs. Much larger stars die suddenly in powerful explosions known as supernovas, blasting gas, dust, and energy out in all directions as they collapse to form tiny neutron stars or black holes. The gas and dust expelled by dying stars eventually combines with the remains of others to form new stars, planets, and moons.

As the dying star at the center of the Helix Nebula exhausted its fuel, it threw off its outer layers as a gaseous wind and transformed into a white dwarf. As the glowing shells of gas expand over 10,000 years, they eventually thin out and become part of the interstellar medium. Planetary nebulas provide a snapshot of a transitional phase in the life and death of a star.

The Helix Nebula is more like a cylinder than a bubble—one end is pointing directly at Earth.

Taken from SWOS in El Sauce, Chile CDK 24 Hanson CDK 1000 Selby

Image Processing: Mark Hanson

Enjoy, Mark

Below are older and different versions