Planetary nebula. Combined X-ray and optical image of the planetary nebula Mz 3 (also called the Ant Nebula). A planetary nebula is a bubble of hot gas and dust,many times the size of our solar system,expanding outwards from a dying,Sun-like star. The nebula consists of the ejected outer layers of the star. The optical part of this image (orange) was obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The hotter,X-ray emitting regions (blue and white,inside the two lobes) was imaged with the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO). Both the HST and CXO are telescopes in Earth orbit. Mz 3 is around 3000 light years from Earth,in the constellation of Norma | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / NASA / J. KASTNER / RIT / CXC |
Taille de l’image : | 3645 px × 2430 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : | - |