A Giant Red Eye Out in Space..

Helix Nebula

Dust makes this cosmic eye look red. This eerie Spitzer Space Telescope
image shows infrared radiation from the well-studied Helix Nebula (NGC
7293), which is a mere 700 light-years away in the constellation
Aquarius. The two light-year diameter shroud of dust and gas around a
central white dwarf has long been considered an excellent example of a
planetary nebula, representing the final stages in the evolution of a
sun-like star. (source)

{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

Norski February 16, 2008 at 7:45 am

Impressive! Thanks for posting this fusion of science and art.

Peter February 16, 2008 at 8:11 am

cool!

Foofy February 16, 2008 at 12:29 pm

FOOOOOF!!

cjsavvy February 16, 2008 at 1:14 pm

Absolutely stupendous. A giant all seeing eye in the sky.

Al February 16, 2008 at 3:46 pm

No, not dust makes it red. It was artificially colored. You can see it in the web under various names in different colorings like “Eye of God” or “Eye of Sauron” and such…

Still a nice pic.

Jack February 16, 2008 at 8:35 pm

Sweet.

Entropy February 19, 2008 at 3:46 pm

Al is right, this image is heavily edited. Try nasa.gov for the real pic.

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_486.html

Jacob February 22, 2008 at 2:09 am

I believe this is called a… God’s Eye or summat…

bill m March 2, 2008 at 3:23 pm

no, it’s known as “sauron”….

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