The Little Ghost Nebula (NGC 6369) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Ophiuchus, known for its small, ghostly appearance as a dying star sheds its outer layers. It's a glowing cloud of gas and dust, about a light-year across, with a central white dwarf star that emits ultraviolet light, causing the nebula to glow in colors like blue, green, and red. Discovered by William Herschel, it's a popular target for amateur astronomers and is located between 2,000 and 5,000 light-years from Earth.
Type: Planetary nebula, formed from the expelled outer layers of a sun-like star at the end of its life.
Location: Constellation Ophiuchus.
Distance: Estimated to be between 2,000 and 5,000 light-years away.
Appearance: A small, faint, ghostly cloud with a bright inner shell and a larger, filamentary outer shell.
Composition: Contains ionized oxygen (blue), hydrogen (green), and nitrogen (red).
Central Star: A white dwarf that powers the nebula's glow with ultraviolet radiation.
Name origin: "Planetary nebula" comes from its round, planet-like appearance in small telescopes, not from any relation to planets.
Hubble's view: Images from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal complex details not visible from Earth due to atmospheric blurring.
Future for our Sun: Our own Sun will eventually form a similar nebula in about 5 billion years. Image Credit NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team
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