Stunning new images reveal cosmic cycle of death and rebirth
A new study of the Helix Nebula shows never-before-seen details of how dying stars recycle elements. Researchers found it by accident
Astronomers Pieter van Dokkum and Roberto Abraham discovered never-before-seen details of the cosmic cycle of death and rebirth while testing the Modular Optical Telephoto Hyperspectral Robotic Array (MOTHRA) telescope in Chile. The researchers were observing the Helix Nebula, a cloud of debris from a star that expired about 650 light-years away, when they captured "mind-paralyzingly awesome images" revealing a new aspect of stellar evolution.
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting journalism by subscribing. The images show over 20 bright "bow shocks" rippling through the Helix Nebula, which mark where faster-moving clumps of ejected material from the dead star collide with interstellar gas and dust. These collisions cause the clumps to erode and release their stellar-made elements.
The researchers estimate that this stellar debris lingers for about 10,000 years before fully dispersing. Unlike previous observations, MOTHRA's telephoto lenses allowed the researchers to see less-studied regions at the outskirts of the nebula, where these bow shocks form. The findings, published in Nature, shed light on how matter from dying stars is recycled into planets and even life.
This process, which creates carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, is essential for the formation of new stars, planets, and life. The researchers hope that MOTHRA will reveal similar processes occurring in other stars, including our own sun, and help build better theoretical frameworks to understand the interstellar cycling of elements and our role in it.
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