Download Video
Video Information
Subscribe to Series
Spitzer Discovers Hidden Ring
This animation transitions from a visible light image of the planetary nebula called NGC 246 to Spitzer's new infrared view. The movie highlights Spitzer's ability to see the invisible; as the movie dissolves to the Spitzer image, a giant ring (red) emerges. This clumpy ring consists of material that was expelled from the aging star at the center of the nebula.
Planetary nebulas are clouds of gas and dust that surround dying stars. When a star like our own Sun begins to run out of fuel, its core shrinks and heats up, boiling off the star's outer layers. Leftover material shoots outward, expanding in shells around the star. This ejected material is then bombarded with ultraviolet light from the central star's fiery surface, producing huge, glowing clouds -- planetary nebulas -- that look like giant jellyfish in space.
In the Spitzer image, the expelled gases appear green, and the ring of expelled material appears red. Astronomers believe the ring is likely made of hydrogen molecules that were ejected from the star in the form of atoms, then cooled to make hydrogen pairs. The new data will help explain how planetary nebulas take shape, and how they nourish future generations of stars.
The Spitzer image composite was taken on Dec. 6, 2003, by Spitzer's infrared array camera, and is composed of images obtained at four wavelengths: 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange) and 8 microns (red).
The visible light image is from the Advanced Observing Program of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. Visible-light image credit: Jeff Cremer/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF
Related Media
 |
News Release Dying Star Goes Out With a Ring ssc2004-13 |
 |
Image Ring of Stellar Death ssc2004-13a |
 |
Video Spitzer Discovers Hidden Ring ssc2004-13v1 |
Most Popular Videos
Spitzer Podcasts
Browse Videos in Science Animations
Page
1
of
4
07.18.12 Flying Out to GJ 436 and its PlanetsStarting from Earth, we quickly zoom out of the solar system into our sun's local neighborhood, populated by the clos... |
05.08.12 Super Earth Reveals Itself to Spitzer (Narrated)NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has, for the first time, captured the light emanating from a distant super Earth, a pl... |
05.08.12 Super Earth Reveals Itself to SpitzerNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has, for the first time, captured the light emanating from a distant super Earth, a pl... |
10.19.10 Weird Warm Spot on ExoplanetThis animation illustrates an unexpected warm spot on the surface of a gaseous exoplanet. NASA's Spitzer Space Telesc... |
10.19.10 Weird Warm Spot on Exoplanet (Narrated)This animation illustrates an unexpected warm spot on the surface of a gaseous exoplanet. NASA's Spitzer Space Telesc... |
|
10.06.09 Saturn Family TourThis video showcases the Saturnian system, beginning with the planet itself and panning out to its newest addition --... |
|
08.10.09 Planetary Demolition DerbyThis artist's animation shows a celestial body about the size of our moon slamming at great speed into a body the siz... |
06.04.09 Silicate Crystal Formation in the Disk of an Erupting StarThis artist's animation illustrates how silicate crystals like those found in comets can be created by an outburst fr... |
06.04.09 Tour of Planet with Extreme Temperature SwingsThis animation shows a computer simulation of the planet HD 80606b from an observer located at a point in space lying... |
07.15.08 Zooming in on Second-Brightest Star in Milky WayThis movie zooms in to reveal the "Peony nebula" star -- the new second-brightest star in the Milky Way, discovered i... |
05.05.08 Dissecting a Light EchoThis animation illustrates how a light echo works, and how an optical illusion of material moving outward is created.... |
05.05.08 Cauldron of LightIn this animation, a seething cauldron of light appears to bubble and ooze around the remains of a giant star that as... |
11.29.07 Pulling Back the Curtain of DustThis artist's animation begins by showing a dark and dusty corner of space where little visible light can escape. The... |
05.09.07 Blacker than BlackThis artist's animation illustrates the hottest planet yet observed in the universe. The scorching ball of gas, a "ho... |
05.09.07 Mapping Exotic WorldsThis animation shows the first-ever map of the surface of an exoplanet, or a planet beyond our solar system. The map,... |
05.09.07 How to Map a Very Faraway PlanetScientists using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope were able to create the first-ever map of the surface of a planet bey... |
04.18.07 Highway to the Danger Zone"The further on the edge, the hotter the intensity," sings Kenny Loggins in "Danger Zone," a song made famous by the ... |
04.18.07 Infrared RoseThis movie begins by showing an optical image of the Rosette nebula, a turbulent star-forming region located 5,000 li... |
