NASA’s picture is of the Red Spider Nebula – a colossal cloud of gas in the constellation Sagittarius. Astronomers are fascinated by the nebula thanks to its distinct features. At the glowing heart of the nebula is one of the hottest stars in the known universe.
The nebula’s spindly arms also give it the appearance of a spider-like monster.
NASA tweeted: “The Red Spider Nebula might look like a cosmic arachnid but it’s the cast-off outer layers of a dying Sun-like star.
“The hot star’s powerful stellar winds create waves in the expelled gas.”
Located about 3,000 light-years from Earth, the image was snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope.
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Hubble is a joint operation between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
ESA said: “Huge waves are sculpted in this two-lobed nebula called the Red Spider Nebula – or NGC 6537 – located some 3,000 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius.
“This warm planetary nebula harbours one of the hottest stars known, and the star’s powerful stellar winds generate waves 100 billion kilometres (62.4 billion miles) high.
“The waves are caused by supersonic shocks, formed when the local gas is compressed and heated in front of the rapidly expanding lobes.
“The atoms caught in the shock emit the spectacular radiation seen in this image.”
The Red Spider Nebula might look like a cosmic arachnid
NASA
The scorching star at the heart of the nebula is the exposed core of a dead star known as a white dwarf.
When a large star nears the end of its life, it will shed its outer layers into a red giant.
If the star is big enough – 15 times the weight of our Sun – the exposed core will collapse into a black hole.
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Smaller stars, however, will turn into dense white dwarfs and the layers they shed will form nebulas like the one in the Hubble picture.
NASA said: “A white dwarf is what stars like the Sun become after they have exhausted their nuclear fuel.
“Near the end of its nuclear burning stage, this type of star expels most of its outer material, creating a planetary nebula. Only the hot core of the star remains.
“This core becomes a very hot white dwarf, with a temperature exceeding 100,000 Kelvin.”
If the white dwarf does not surround itself with new stellar dust and gas, it will slowly lose its temperature over billions of years
Quick facts about the Hubble Space Telescope:
1. Every single week, the space telescope transmits 150 gigabits of raw data.
2. The telescope orbits the planet at a speed of about 17,000mph.
3. The Sun power’s the telescope’s six batteries with a power storage capacity equal to about 22 car batteries.
4. Hubble has gazed at locations as far as 13.4 billion light-years from Earth.
5. The telescope does not have thrusters to reposition itself and instead uses Newtonian principles to rotate its wheels in opposing directions to move.
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