A pulsating stellar relic

Esahubble_potw1339a_1024

esahubble_potw1339a September 30th, 2013

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASAAcknowledgements: Luca Limatola, Budeanu Cosmin Mirel

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the planetary nebula NGC 2452, located in the southern constellation of Puppis. The blue haze across the frame is what remains of a star like our Sun after it has depleted all its fuel. When this happens, the core of the star becomes unstable and releases huge numbers of incredibly energetic particles that blow the star's atmosphere away into space. At the centre of this blue cloud lies what remains of the nebula's progenitor star. This cool, dim, and extremely dense star is actually a pulsating white dwarf, meaning that its brightness varies over time as gravity causes waves that pulse throughout the small star's body. NGC 2452 was discovered by Sir John Herschel in 1847. He initially defined it as "an object whose nature I cannot make out. It is certainly not a star, nor a close double star [...] I should call it an oblong planetary nebula". To early observers like Herschel with their smaller telescopes, planetary nebulae resembled gaseous planets, and so were named accordingly. The name has stuck, although modern telescopes like Hubble have made it clear that these objects are not planets at all, but the outer layers of dying stars being thrown off into space. A version of this image was entered into the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestants Luca Limatola and Budeanu Cosmin Mirel.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1339a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 2452
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Evolutionary Stage > White Dwarf
Star > Type > Variable > Pulsating
Nebula > Type > Planetary
Esahubble_potw1339a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 7h 47m 26.0s
DEC = -27° 20’ 4.8”
Orientation
North is 13.7° CW
Field of View
0.6 x 0.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Puppis

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Cyan Hubble (WFPC2) Optical (V) 555.0 nm
Orange Hubble (WFPC2) Infrared (I) 814.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Cyan
Orange
Esahubble_potw1339a_1280
×
ID
potw1339a
Subject Category
B.3.1.7   B.3.2.1.1   B.4.1.3  
Subject Name
NGC 2452
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASAAcknowledgements: Luca Limatola, Budeanu Cosmin Mirel
Release Date
2013-09-30T10:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1339a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
WFPC2, WFPC2
Color Assignment
Cyan, Orange
Band
Optical, Infrared
Bandpass
V, I
Central Wavelength
555, 814
Start Time
Integration Time
1800, 2000
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
116.858401944, -27.3346707227
Reference Dimension
668.0, 681.0
Reference Pixel
334.0, 340.0
Scale
-1.39015735761e-05, 1.39015735761e-05
Rotation
-13.71999999999999
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
potw1339a
Metadata Date
2013-06-19T18:43:55+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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