The Mysterious Saturn Nebula

The uneven and oddly-shaped bubbles series that lit up in bright pinks and blue colour, is the nebula NGC 7009, or the Saturn Nebula. This scenario was captured by MUSE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). It is located almost 5000 light years away in the constellation of Aquarius (The Water Bearer). When research was done, it was found that the nebula NGC 7009 has the dust inside its area. But the twist is it has nothing to do with planets. The Nebula was basically a star with low-mass which expanded into a red giant at the end of its life and began to remove its outer layers. That outer layer was blown by strong wind and it was activated by ultraviolet radiation. It finally created a circumstellar nebula of dust and brightly-coloured hot gas. The doomed star is situated in the heart of Saturn Nebula that may soon become a white dwarf. Research has been done to understand the reason of the odd shapes of the Nebula. Researchers have also found that there is a wave-like feature in the dust distributed throughout the nebula. The dust reduced at the rim of the inner shell that seems like being vanished at that point. If the scientists become able to understand the gas and dust structures within planetary nebulae, it will be helpful in understanding their role in the lives and deaths of low mass stars in the galaxy.

By: Anita Aishvarya

Content: www.sciencedaily.com