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Space
Space
Science
Robert Z. Pearlman

The utterly beautiful destruction of a planet: Space photo of the day

NASA Sun Earth the National Autonomous University of Mexico
The Helix nebula, as viewed by the Chandra X-ray observatory, Hubble Space Telescope and European Southern Observatory VISTA telescope and GALEX telescope, shows the end of life for a white dwarf star and possibly a planet. (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)

This colorful image of the Helix nebula may mirror what someday could become of our sun and our home planet. Released on March 4, 2025, the composite photo shows a potentially destructive white dwarf at its center. It turns out this star may have destroyed a planet.

Why is this amazing?

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