Picture: Hubble Snaps Images of a Nebula Within a Cluster

Hubble Snaps Images of a Nebula Within a Cluster The unique planetary nebula NGC 2818 is nested inside the open star cluster NGC 2818A. Both the cluster and the nebula reside over 10,000 light-years away, in the southern constellation Pyxis (the Compass). NGC 2818 is one of very few planetary nebulae in our galaxy located within an open cluster. Open clusters, in general, are loosely bound and they disperse over hundreds of millions of years. Stars that form planetary nebulae typically live for billions of years. Hence, it is rare that an open cluster survives long enough for one of its members to form a planetary nebula. This open cluster is particularly ancient, estimated to be nearly one billion years old. The spectacular structure of NGC 2818 (also known as PLN 261+8.1) contains the outer layers of a sun-like star that were sent off into interstellar space during the star's final stages of life. These glowing gaseous shrouds were shed by the star after it ran out of fuel to sustain the nuclear reactions in its core. Planetary nebulae can have extremely varied structures. NGC 2818 has a complex shape that is difficult to interpret. However, because of its location within the cluster, astronomers have access to information about the nebula, such as its age and distance, that might not otherwise be known. Planetary nebulae fade away gradually over tens of thousands of years. The hot, remnant stellar core of NGC 2818 will eventually cool off for billions of years as a white dwarf. Our own sun will undergo a similar process, but not for another 5 billion years or so. This Hubble image was taken in November 2008 with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. The colors in the image represent a range of emissions coming from the clouds of the nebula: red represents nitrogen, green represents hydrogen, and blue represents oxygen. Object Name: NGC 2818 Image Type: Astronomical Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Object Name: NGC 2818 and NGC 2818A Object Description: Planetary Nebula within Open Cluster Position (J2000): R.A. 09h 16m 06s.13 Dec. -36° 37' 36".88 Constellation: Pyxis Distance: 10,400 light-years (3.2 kiloparsecs) Dimensions: This image is roughly 2 arcminutes (6.5 light-years or 2 ________________________parsecs) wide. About the Data Science Team: This image was created from HST data from proposals _________________________1956: K. Noll, Z. Levay, M. Mutchler, L. Frattare, C. _________________________Christian, F. Hamilton, and H. Bond (STScI/AURA) Instrument: WFPC2 Exposure Date(s): November 27/28, 2008 Exposure Time: 2.1 hours Filters: F502N ([O III]), F656N (H-alpha), and F658N ([N II]) About the Image Release Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Release Date: January 15, 2009 Color: The image is a composite of separate exposures made by the ________________________WFPC2 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Three ________________________filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The ________________________color results from assigning different hues (colors) to ________________________each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: F658N ([N II]) red F656N (H-alpha) green F502N ([O III]) blue try listening to the music from eve online while looking at these pics ;) ___________________________________________________________________________________ please leave a comment if you want, this is just to show what is out there... And before you go and spam, dl it watch it and make up your own mind... cheers the_phyrexian Are you a British citizen? Click here! (Petition to stop Sharia Law) http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/shariastop there is a reseed section, read it / use it... http://suprbay.org/forumdisplay.php?f=35 or visit my blog... http://thephyrexian.tk

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