The Truth Behind the Eye of God Nebula
What Is the Image Made by NASA's Hubble Telescope
Dec 9, 2008
Various forms of an e-mail have been circulating regarding the picture seen here. One of the e-mails reads as follows:
Subject:
NASA Photo...DON'T DELETE!
Dear All:
This photo is a very rare one, taken by NASA. This kind of event occurs once in 3000 years.
This photo has done miracles in many lives.
Make a wish ..... you have looked at the eye of God. Surely you will see the changes in your
life within a day. !
Whether you believe it or not, don't keep this mail with you. Pass this at least to 7 persons.
This is a picture NASA took with the Hubbell telescope.
Called 'The Eye of God.'
Too awesome to delete. It is worth sharing.
Below the text of the e-mail is the picture of a nebula that does indeed look like an eye.
The Eye of God Nebula Is Really the Helix Nebula
Here is the truth to the e-mail. The image is a real image taken by both NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the WIYN (University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, Yale University, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory) Telescope on Kitt Peak in Arizona and made into a composite. Other than the fact that the image is real and made by one of the telescopes listed, the rest of the text is false.
The nebula in question is the Helix Nebula, or NGC 7293, located in the constellation of Aquarius. There is nothing particularly rare about the photo, and the reference to an event that occurs once in 3,000 years is confusing. What event? The ability to capture this image? In fact, anyone with a good telescope can see the Helix Nebula in Aquarius throughout fall and early winter in the evening skies. Northern Hemisphere observers must look to the south. Read about how to observe Aquarius for more information. Even though the Helix Nebula is magnitude 7.3, the glowing gas from this nebula is rather spread out , about half the size of a full moon, making it an observing challenge.
What Is the Helix Nebula?
The Helix Nebula is special in its own right, without false claims of miracles or NASA referring to it as the Eye of God or that it is a rare object. The Helix Nebula is one of the closest and largest planetary nebulas known. A planetary nebula consists of gas and dust expelled from a star at the end of its life. The Helix Nebula provides a glimpse into our own Sun's future, after it reaches the red giant phase and begins to release its gases. The star seen at the center of the Helix Nebula is the one responsible for the gaseous outflow. If this were the Sun, our planet would be well within the nebula. In fact, as the Sun bloats into the red giant phase, it will devour our Earth and all planets out to Mars. The Sun and the star in the Helix Nebula will eventually end their lives as white dwarfs.
As proof that the image of the Helix Nebula is not rare, compare it with the Ring Nebula. The Ring Nebula is a favorite target among backyard observers and can be found in the constellation Lyra and is also called M57.
The popularity of this image known as the Eye of God is so wide ranging that it is now one of the outer space photos used as art that appears in the apartment of the physics researchers Leonard and Sheldon in the TV show The Big Bang Theory.
The Eye of God is a real nebula, even if that is not its real name, and is an awesome image worth sharing with friends, even without a mystical story connected to it.
