Spitzer Celebrates Fourth Anniversary with Celestial Fireworks

Spitzer_sig07-016_3000
spitzer_sig07-016 August 24, 2007

Creator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2115-sig07-016-Spitzer-Celebrates-Fourth-Anniversary-with-Celestial-Fireworks

A newly expanded image of the Helix nebula lends a festive touch to the fourth anniversary of the launch of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. This spectacular object, a dying star unraveling into space, is a favorite of amateur and professional astronomers alike. Spitzer has mapped the expansive outer structure of the six-light-year-wide nebula, and probed the inner region around the central dead star to reveal what appears to be a planetary system that survived the star's chaotic death throes.

Image Use Policy: Public Domain

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Helix Nebula NGC 7293
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula » Type » Planetary

Distance

Universescale1
650 light years

Position Details

Spitzer_sig07-016_3000
Position (ICRS)
RA = 22h 29m 40.5s
DEC = -20° 49’ 49.7”
Orientation
North is 64.9° CW
Field of View
29.1 x 27.1 arcminutes
Constellation
Aquarius

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Arrow_left_blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 3.6 µm
Arrow_left_green Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 4.5 µm
Arrow_left_red Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Spectrum_base
Arrow_top_blue
Arrow_top_green
Arrow_top_red