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Back Planetary Nebula NGC 6818

Planetary Nebula NGC 6818


Depicts: NGC 6818, IRAS 19411-1416
Copyright: Robert Rubin (NASA Ames Research Center), Reginald Dufour and Matt Browning (Rice University), Patrick Harrington (University of Maryland), and NASA

This Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 image of NGC 6818 shows two distinct layers of gas (with dust): a spherical outer region and a brighter, vase-shaped interior "bubble." Astronomers believe that a fast wind - material propelled by radiation from the hot central star - is creating the inner elongated shape. The central star of the planetary nebula appears as a tiny blue dot. The material in the wind is traveling so fast that it smashes through older, slower-moving stellar debris, causing a "blowout" at both ends of the bubble (lower right and upper left).
Last Update: 1 September 2019
13-Apr-2026 04:55 UT

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