Hubble Offers a Dazzling View of the 'Necklace' Nebula
Thursday, August 11, 2011 - 09:00
in Astronomy & Space
A giant cosmic necklace glows brightly in this image taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The object, aptly named the Necklace Nebula, is a recently discovered planetary nebula, the glowing remains of an ordinary, Sun-like star. The nebula consists of a bright ring, measuring 12 million miles across, dotted with dense, bright knots of gas that resemble diamonds in a necklace. The knots glow brightly due to absorption of ultraviolet light from the central stars.