APOD: 2020 August 23 - The Helix Nebula from Blanco and Hubble

Maj William W. 'Bill' Price good day my friend, I have said it many times before, "no one does it better than above". Thank you for sharing Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is titled "The Helix Nebula from Blanco and Hubble." The Blanco 4-meter (158 inches) Telescope is located 80 km (128 miles) east of La Serena, Chilé, at an altitude of 2200 meters (~7,200 feet). Have a great day.

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Thank you my friend Maj William W. 'Bill' Price for posting the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for Sunday, August 23, 202 entitled "The Helix Nebula from Blanco and Hubble."

Wonderful image of a segment of the heavens - glory to God.

Image: The Helix Nebula from Blanco and Hubble - Image Credit - C. R. O'Dell, (Vanderbilt) et al. ESA, NOAO, NASA

APOD Background
"Explanation: How did a star create the Helix nebula? The shapes of planetary nebula like the Helix are important because they likely hold clues to how stars like the Sun end their lives. Observations by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and the 4-meter Blanco Telescope in Chile, however, have shown the Helix is not really a simple helix. Rather, it incorporates two nearly perpendicular disks as well as arcs, shocks, and even features not well understood. Even so, many strikingly geometric symmetries remain. How a single Sun-like star created such beautiful yet geometric complexity is a topic of research. The Helix Nebula is the nearest planetary nebula to Earth, lies only about 700 light years away toward the constellation of Aquarius, and spans about 3 light-years."

Crystal Plains · The Helix Nebula
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2xGp92nO5U

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