ESOshop: Mounted image 035: The Helix Nebula

A colour-composite image of the Helix Nebula created from images obtained by the Wide Field Imager, an astronomical camera attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2‑metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. The blue-green glow in the centre of the Helix comes from oxygen atoms shining due to the intense ­ultraviolet radiation from the 120000 degree Celsius central star. ­Further out from the star and beyond the ring of knots, the red colour from hydrogen and nitrogen is more prominent.

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