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Dying Star Creates Fantasy-like Sculpture of Gas an. A Hubble Heritage Release September 9, 2004: In this detailed view from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the so-called Cat's Eye Nebula looks like the penetrating eye of the disembodied sorcerer Sauron from the film adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings. " The nebula, formally cataloged NGC 6543, is every bit as inscrutable as the J.R.R. Tolkien phantom character. Though the Cat's Eye Nebula was one of the first planetary nebulae to be discovered, it is one of the most complex such nebulae seen in space. Q & A: Understanding the Discovery 1. A planetary nebula forms when Sun-like stars gently eject their outer gaseous layers that form bright nebulae with amazing and confounding shapes. 2. As if the Cat's Eye Nebula itself isn't spectacular enough, this new image taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) reveals the full beauty of a bull's eye pattern of eleven or even more concentric rings, or shells, around the Cat's Eye. 3.

Back to top. Stellarium-workshop - home. Feel Nikon | Universcale. Universcale. Refurbished Hubble telescope spots billion-year-old galaxies.