Have you ever looked into your telescope and seen a glowing eye looking back at you? You might be looking at the Helix Nebula. Also known as NGC 7293, Caldwell 63 and The Eye of God Nebula, the Helix Nebula is a beautiful phenomenon that exists about 650 light years away from Earth in the constellation of Aquarius.

The planetary nebula was formed when a star exploded and blew off its outer layer before it died. It is made up of dust, ionized material and molecular gas that forms a complex pattern that looks like a golden and blue eye. The dying star at the heart of the Helix Nebula is currently evolving into a white dwarf. 

First identified in the 18th century, these nebulae were named because they looked like gas planets. But in reality, they are actually the remains of stars that once resembled our sun. The Helix’s main ring is about two light-years across, about half the distance between the Sun and the nearest star. Yet its materials spread out to at least four light years.

According to NASA, these stars pass their existence turning hydrogen into helium via nuclear fusion reactions in their cores. Our sun goes through a similar process and will one day become a planetary nebula when it dies in about five billion years.

Formation Of The Helix Nebula by djxatlanta

The Helix Nebula gets its glow from a wide range of light across its spectrum that ranges from ultraviolet to infrared. As the intense ultraviolet radiation from the white dwarf heats up the expelled layers of gas, it shines brightly in the infrared zone creating the color. The ultraviolet light appears blue, while the infrared frequencies of dust and gas appear yellow. 

Before the star died, its comets and even planets would have remained in orbit but after it blew its top, the planets would have exploded into each other and burned up or been swallowed.

Have you seen the The Eye of God Nebula? What is your favorite nebulae?