An extraordinary celestial spiral

Esahubble_potw1020a_1024

esahubble_potw1020a September 6th, 2010

Credit: ESA/NASA & R. Sahai

This remarkable picture from the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows one of the most perfect geometrical forms created in space. It captures the formation of an unusual pre-planetary nebula, known as IRAS 23166+1655, around the star LL Pegasi (also known as AFGL 3068) in the constellation of Pegasus (the Winged Horse). The striking picture shows what appears to be a thin spiral pattern of astonishingly regularity winding around the star, which is itself hidden behind thick dust. The spiral pattern suggests a regular periodic origin for the nebulas shape. The material forming the spiral is moving outwards a speed of about 50 000 km/hour and, by combining this speed with the distance between layers, astronomers calculate that the shells are each separated by about 800 years.The spiral is thought to arise because LL Pegasi is a binary system, with the star that is losing material and a companion star orbiting each other. The spacing between layers in the spiral is expected to directly reflect the orbital period of the binary, which is indeed estimated to be also about 800 years.The creation and shaping of planetary nebulae is an exciting area of stellar evolution. Stars with masses from about half that of the Sun up to about eight times that of the Sun do not explode as supernovae at the ends of their lives. Instead a more regal end awaits them as their outer layers of gas are shed and drift into space, creating striking and intricate structures that to Earth-bound observers often look like dramatic watercolour paintings. IRAS 23166+1655 is just starting this process and the central star has yet to emerge from the cocoon of enveloping dust.This picture was created from images from the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys on Hubble. Images through a yellow filter (F606W, coloured blue) were combined with images through a near-infra red filter (F804W, coloured red). The exposure times were 11 minutes and 22 minutes respectively and the field of view spans about 80 arcseconds.Links Paper discussing the intriguing AFGL 3068 (PDF format)

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1020a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
IRAS 23166+1655 LL Pegasi
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Grouping > Binary
Nebula > Type > Planetary
Esahubble_potw1020a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 23h 19m 12.0s
DEC = 17° 11’ 43.9”
Orientation
North is 78.9° CW
Field of View
1.4 x 1.4 arcminutes
Constellation
Pegasus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Hubble (ACS) Infrared (I) -
Green Hubble (ACS) Optical (Pseudogreen (V+I)) -
Blue Hubble (ACS) Optical (V) -
Esahubble_potw1020a_1280
×
ID
potw1020a
Subject Category
B.3.6.1   B.4.1.3  
Subject Name
IRAS 23166+1655, LL Pegasi
Credits
ESA/NASA & R. Sahai
Release Date
2010-09-06T10:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1020a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
ACS, ACS, ACS
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
Infrared, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
I, Pseudogreen (V+I), V
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
349.800019044, 17.19552309
Reference Dimension
1625.0, 1625.0
Reference Pixel
812.0, 812.0
Scale
-1.38805465608e-05, 1.38805465608e-05
Rotation
-78.919999999999931
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
ESA/Hubble
URL
http://www.spacetelescope.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
ESA/Hubble
Publisher ID
esahubble
Resource ID
potw1020a
Metadata Date
2010-08-18T16:43:54+02:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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