The Egg
Nebula is hatching in a cosmic way, shedding layers of gas and dust to slowly
reveal a white dwarf yolk.
Located in
the direction of the constellation Cygnus, the Egg Nebula spans about one
light-year as it rapidly evolves from its pre-planetary stage.
Its “yolk,”
a white dwarf star, is blocked by thick swaths of dust, which forms arc-like
shells further out which reflect light from the small star.
The
reflecting light leads to an effect known as polarization, which arises due to
the plane of view between the observer, dust grains and the central star. By
measuring the orientation of polarized light, astronomers can cull clues as to
the location of its hidden white dwarf source.
This older image
highlighted today by NASA was first observed by the Hubble Space Telescope using
its now defunct Advanced Camera for Surveys. It is tagged with false-colors to highlight
the orientation of polarization.
-- SPACE.com Staff
Credit: NASA/W. Sparks (STScI) and R.
Sahai (JPL).
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