Sixteen Images for Spitzer's Sweet 16 | NASA

Sixteen Images for Spitzer's Sweet 16 | NASA

The Infrared Helix

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Located about 700 light-years from Earth, the eye-like Helix nebula is a planetary nebula, or the remains of a Sun-like star. When these stars run out of their internal fuel supply, their outer layers puff up to create the nebula. The nebula is heated by the hot core of the dead star, called a white dwarf, which is not visible in this image but is located in the middle of the "eye." Our Sun will blossom into a planetary nebula when it dies in about 5 billion years.

Read more about this image here:

http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/news/881-feature07-13-Spitzer-Celebrates-Fourth-Anniversary-with-Celestial-Fireworks