Cat's Eye Nebula Age
It is similar in appearance to the Cats Eye Nebula and the Ring Nebula whose size age and physical characteristics are similar to the Dumbbell Nebula varying only in its relative proximity and the.
Cat's eye nebula age. Structurally it is one of the most complex of the known nebulae. The Spectacular Cats Eye Planetary Nebula 33 Thousands of years ago a star reached the end of its life and began to eject its outer layers forming one of the most complex planetary nebulae in the sky. Added to the New General Catalogue over a century ago with the easily remembered designation NGC 6543 but commonly called the Cats Eye.
The other nebulosity much fainter was apparently ejected from the star previously every 1500 years or so. The nebulas structural complexity may be the result of material being expelled from a binary central star but the existence of a binary companion has not yet been. Planetary nebulae are like snowflakes.
The Cats Eye Nebula was discovered by Herschel in the late 18th century. Heres my image of the Cats Eye Nebula NGC 6543 in Bi-Colour HαOiii. It has been expanding ever since as can be seen by comparing Hubble images taken in 1994 1997 2000 and 2002.
It is a Planetary Nebula expanding gas shell ejected from an end-of-life star in the constellation of the Dragon whose age is estimated at only 1000 years and the distance at only 5200 light years. I took this over two nights from Nerpio. This image reveals new details of the Cats Eye Nebula catalogued as NGC 6543 one of the most complex planetary nebulae ever seen.
It was the first planetary nebula to have its spectrum measured which demonstrated that it was largely composed of hot gases. Visually it is similar to the cats eye and was named accordingly. The Cats Eye Nebula has a complex intricate structure which includes knots bubbles concentric gas shells and jets of gas as seen in hi-res images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1994.
It is a Planetary Nebula expanding gas shell ejected from an end-of-life star in the constellation of the Dragon whose age is estimated at only 1000 years and the distance at only 5200 light years. Herschel was a German-born astronomer who emigrated to Great Britain at age 19. Structurally it is one of the most complex nebulae known with.