NGC 3132: The Southern Ring Nebula
Explanation:
It's the dim star, not the bright one, near the center of
NGC 3132 that created this odd but beautiful
planetary nebula.
Nicknamed the
Eight-Burst Nebula and the Southern
Ring Nebula, the glowing gas originated in the
outer layers of a star like our
Sun.
In this
reprocessed color picture, the hot purplish pool of light seen surrounding this
binary system
is energized by the hot surface of the faint star.
Although
photographed to explore unusual symmetries, it's the asymmetries that
help make this
planetary nebula so intriguing.
Neither the unusual shape of the surrounding cooler shell nor the structure and
placements of the cool filamentary
dust lanes running across
NGC 3132
are well understood.
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
