A stunning new image of the Little Dumbbell Nebula, also known as Messier 76, M76, NGC 650/651, the Cork Nebula, and the Barbell Nebula, was shared on April 23, 2024 to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope’s launch on April 24, 1990. The image comes from the newest data stored at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and totals an impressive 184 terabytes of information.
Despite its name, this planetary nebula is not the remains of a planet but rather an expanding shell of gas and dust ejected from a red giant star that collapsed into a dense, hot white dwarf star. The white dwarf star is one of the hottest white dwarf remnants known, with a temperature of 216,000 degrees Fahrenheit (120,000 degrees Celsius). This intriguing nebula is located in Perseus constellation and is a popular target for telescopes in the Northern Hemisphere during summer months.
The new image captured by Hubble shows two lobes of glowing gas and dust on both sides of a central bar. Scientists believe that these rings were caused by a second star consumed by the central white dwarf star. The rest of this vibrant nebula is composed of dust and gas ejected by the central star at incredibly high speeds of up to 2 million mph (3.2 million km/h).
The glowing effect in this nebula is due to ultraviolet radiation emitted by the star; red colors represent nitrogen while blue colors show oxygen. This fascinating nebula will continue to captivate astronomers for approximately 15,000 more years before its last vestiges dissipate into space.
