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In about 5 billion years, our Sun will run out of fuel and expand, possibly engulfing Earth. These end stages of a star’s life can be utterly beautiful as is the case with this planetary nebula called the Helix Nebula. Astronomers study these objects by looking at all kinds of light. This series of images shows X-rays from Chandra, optical light data from Hubble, infrared data from the European Southern Observatory VISTA telescope, and ultraviolet data from GALEX of the Helix Nebula. At the center of the Helix is a white dwarf, a small dim star that remains after the star shed its outer layers.

X-ray Signal Points to Destroyed Planet, Chandra Finds

In about 5 billion years, our Sun will run out of fuel and expand, possibly engulfing Earth. These end stages of a star’s life can be utterly beautiful as is the case with this planetary nebula called the Helix Nebula. Astronomers study these objects by looking at all kinds of light. This series of images shows X-rays from Chandra, optical light data from Hubble, infrared data from the European Southern Observatory VISTA telescope, and ultraviolet data from GALEX of the Helix Nebula. At the center of the Helix is a white dwarf, a small dim star that remains after the star shed its outer layers.

Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/Univ Mexico/S. Estrada-Dorado et al.; Ultraviolet: NASA/JPL; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI (M. Meixner)/NRAO (T.A. Rector); Infrared: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand;

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Image CreditX-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/Univ Mexico/S. Estrada-Dorado et al.; Ultraviolet: NASA/JPL; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI (M. Meixner)/NRAO (T.A. Rector); Infrared: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand;
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