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What it is : NGC 1514 , a planetary nebula
Where it is:1,500 light - years distant in the constellation Taurus
A planetary nebula NGC 1514 as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope.
When it was share : April 14 , 2025
Why it ’s so special : The death of a sensation can be the accelerator for one of the most beautiful visual sense in the creation . To see that , look no further than the latest images from theJames Webb Space Telescope(JWST ) , which recently turned its regard toward a planetary nebula call NGC 1514 .
consort toNASA , planetary nebulas grade during the dying of some stars as they kick out their out layers into outer space . Planetary nebulas like NGC 1514 are expanding shells of gas that imprint intricate shape . NGC 1514 is sometimes called the Crystal Ball Nebula , but in this unexampled figure of speech from Webb , it looks more like an hourglass or a ring . That ’s thanks to the excess details revealed by JWST ’s infrared eye , with its Mid - infrared Instrument ( MIRI ) in particular helping to draw out gasoline cloud and rings .
NASA’s WISE satellite and JWST share competing views of the Crystal Ball Nebula
relate : James Webb scope spots Milky Way ’s long - suffer ' Twin Falls ' — and it is ' fundamentally changing our panorama of the early universe '
In the center of the nebula is what look like a exclusive shining star topology . Appearances can be delusory ; it ’s in reality a binary organization , with the obtuse cores of two dying stars locked in a share compass . These star topology — one still expelling its outer gas layers and the other a white-hot dwarf , the red-hot remnant of a star that has used up its atomic fuel — are responsible for what JWST can see only in infrared sparkle .
The white dwarf commence as a star several times more massive than the sunlight .
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" As it evolved , it puffed up , throwing off layer of gasolene and detritus in a very slow , dense starring wind,“David Jones , a older scientist at the Institute of Astrophysics on the Canary Islands , who get hold the binary star system in 2017 , state in astatement .
JWST offers scientist an unprecedented glimpse into the cosmos , unwrap never - before - determine detail even in objects that have previously been studied . " Before Webb , we were n’t capable to detect most of this material , let alone observe it so distinctly , " saidMike Ressler , a researcher and projection scientist for Webb ’s MIRI atNASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southerly California . " With MIRI ’s datum , we can now comprehensively examine the turbulent nature of this nebula . " Ressler had noticed the rings around NGC 1514 in a much fuzzier and less detailedimagetaken in 2010 by NASA ’s now - retire Wide - playing area Infrared Survey Explorer ( WISE ) .
For more sublime space images , check out ourSpace Photo of the Week archive .
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