NGC 6164: A Dragon’s Egg

Heavenly emission nebula NGC 6164 became created by a uncommon, hot, though-provoking O-kind star, some 40 times as big as the Sun. Seen on the center of the cosmic cloud, the star is a mere 3 to 4 million years outdated. In a single more three to four million years the gigantic star will terminate its lifestyles in a supernova explosion. Spanning spherical 4 mild-years, the nebula itself has a bipolar symmetry. That makes it the same in appearance to extra licensed and familiar planetary nebulae – the gaseous shrouds surrounding death sun-deal with stars. Additionally deal with many planetary nebulae, NGC 6164 has been found to hang an intensive, faint halo, published in this deep image of the gap. Expanding into the surrounding interstellar medium, the realm fabric within the halo is probably from an earlier energetic segment of the O star. This lovely telescopic peep is a composite of broad slim-band image recordsdata, highlighting gorgeous atomic hydrogen gas in purple and oxygen in greenish hues, with substantial-band recordsdata for the surrounding starfield. Additionally recognized as the Dragon’s Egg nebula, NGC 6164 is 4,200 mild-years away within the moral-angled southern constellation of Norma.