MEDUSA ▲ Hubble View of a Nitrogen-Rich Nebula | NASA

Hubble View of a Nitrogen-Rich Nebula | NASA

Hubble View of a Nitrogen-Rich Nebula

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a planetary nebula named NGC 6153, located about 4,000 light-years away in the southern constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion). The faint blue haze across the frame shows what remains of a star like the sun after it has depleted most of its fuel. When this happens, the outer layers of the star are ejected, and get excited and ionized by the energetic ultraviolet light emitted by the bright hot core of the star, forming the nebula.

NGC 6153 is a planetary nebula that is elliptical in shape, with an extremely rich network of loops and filaments, shown clearly in this Hubble image. However, this is not what makes this planetary nebula so interesting for astronomers.

Measurements show that NGC 6153 contains large amounts of neon, argon, oxygen, carbon and chlorine — up to three times more than can be found in the solar system. The nebula contains a whopping five times more nitrogen than our sun! Although it may be that the star developed higher levels of these elements as it grew and evolved, it is more likely that the star originally formed from a cloud of material that already contained a lot more of these elements.

Text credit: European Space Agency
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Matej Novak

Last Updated: Aug. 6, 2015

Editor: Ashley Morrow

el dispensador dice:
deja a la medusa flotar,
que en su supuesta soledad,
se está formando,
alimentándose de estrellas,
y de energías que se van creando...

¿en qué consiste el Verbo?,
en verse pronunciado,
porque de eso se trata el existir,
sea aquí,
como de los otros lados,
el universo expresa vida,
aún cuando tus ojos no anden mirando,
cuando el alma en sus pobrezas,
niegue a los espíritus inspirados...

¿acaso, te has preguntado?,
¿cómo es que todo permanece en orden,
flotando... separado... orbitando?,
respiras por un breve lapso,
como si te hubieses asomado,
a una ventana llamada "vida",
esto que se trata de andar respirando...
pero hay muchos "allá" que están vibrando,
mientras duermes,
mientras caminas creyéndote ocupado...
y así como así,
la vida concedida, 
es la que te pasa de largo,
sin que te hayas dado cuenta,
porque de tanto andar confundido,
te has creído andar acertado...

no te equivoques,
estalla la vida... en el espacio...
AGOSTO 07, 2015.-