NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snaps spooky image of a dying star

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snaps spooky image of a dying star

The Hubble Space Telescope is sending some seriously spooky Halloween vibes out into the universe with an eerie image of dying star CW Leonis. The star looks like a cosmic cobweb, though there's a very grounded science explanation for its appearance. In keeping with the season, NASA likened the star to a hypnotizing vortex, a peek into a witch's cauldron and a giant space-spider web.  

CW Leonis is what's known as a "carbon star." "The orange-red 'cobwebs' are dusty clouds of sooty carbon engulfing the dying star," the European Space Agency said in a statement on Thursday. "They were created from the outer layers of CW Leonis being thrown out into the inky black void."  Hubble is a joint project of NASA and ESA.  

CW Leonis is located about 400 light-years from Earth, making it our closest carbon star. Hubble has witnessed changes in the material around the star as seen in an animated view of telescope observations between 2001 and 2016.

The cause of the carbon star's shifts in brightness over a relatively short span of time is still under investigation. "Astronomers speculate that gaps in the dust shrouding CW Leonis may allow beams of starlight to pierce through and illuminate dust, like searchlight beacons through a cloudy sky," ESA said.

Hubble's vision is a perfect companion for a Spitzer Space Telescope view of a Godzilla-like nebula that also came out this week. These celestial visual treats are a delightful way to mark Halloween. 

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NASA's James Webb Space Telescope: Here's What You'll See in the First Images

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope: Here's What You'll See in the First Images

NASA, along with the European and Canadian space agencies, will be releasing the first science images from the brand new James Webb Space Telescope on Tuesday, and now we know what celestial bodies we'll be seeing in those historic pictures.

JWST is the long-awaited successor to the Hubble Space Telescope that finally launched on Christmas Day after years of delays. 

On Friday, NASA revealed the list of cosmic objects that JWST will target for its first batch of full-color images offering unprecedented and detailed views of deep space. If the telescope's stunning first test image is any indication, it's going to be as good as any Instagram feed out there. 

The targets include the Carina Nebula and Southern Ring Nebula, which are bright areas of gas and other material. The Carina Nebula (pictured above) is a so-called stellar nursery where stars are forming, and it's filled with massive stars that help make it one of the largest and brightest nebulas in the sky. The Southern Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula -- in this case, a wide cloud of gas half a light-year in diameter surrounding a dying star -- and relatively close on a cosmic scale, at just 2,000 light-years away.

The southern ring nebula is also known as the "Eight-Burst" Nebula because of it appears to be a figure-8 when seen through some telescopes.

NASA/The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA/NASA)

Two other targets we'll see in fantastic high resolution next week are the galaxy group Stephan's Quintet, a particularly photogenic grouping of galaxies that seem to be dancing around each other for eternity, and SMACS 0723, which is a massive galaxy cluster that can act as a so-called gravitational lens to help scientists see deeper into space and observe fainter galaxies.

This quintet of galaxies is made up of four galaxies that are actually near each other and a fifth that appears nearby but is really in the foreground and much closer to Earth.

NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team

JWST also is taking a look at the planet WASP-96b, a gas giant world about half the mass of Jupiter and located 1,150 light-years from Earth. The powerful new instruments on the space telescope should be able to provide new insights into the composition of the planet's atmosphere and a fun teaser of what we'll soon discover about other exoplanets, including those that are more Earth-like. 

The images that the space agencies will unveil on July 12 are just the beginning. Scientists have applied to use the telescope through a competitive process, and the first year of observations have already been scheduled. It's quite likely that JWST will change our perspective on some aspects of the universe in the months and years to come. 

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