The Red Square Nebula
Explanation:
How did a round star create this square nebula?
No one is quite sure.
The round star, known as MWC 922 and possibly part of a
multiple star system, appears at the center of the
Red Square Nebula.
The
featured image combines
infrared
exposures from the
Hale Telescope on
Mt. Palomar in
California, and the
Keck-2 Telescope on
Mauna Kea in
Hawaii.
A leading progenitor hypothesis for the
square nebula is that the central
star
or stars somehow expelled cones of gas during a late
developmental stage.
For MWC 922,
these cones happen to incorporate nearly
right angles
and be visible from the sides.
Supporting evidence for the
cone
hypothesis includes radial spokes in the image that might run along the
cone walls.
Researchers speculate that the
cones viewed from
another angle would appear similar to the gigantic rings of
supernova 1987A,
possibly indicating that a star in MWC 922 might one day itself explode in a similar
supernova.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
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NASA Official: Jay Norris.
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A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.