Новые снимки NASA от телескопа «Уэбб» раскрывают детали планетарной туманности NGC 2392 — сгустки пыли и ионизированный газ вокруг умирающей звезды. Инфракрасные данные дополняют более ранние наблюдения «Хаббла».
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured new infrared images of the planetary nebula NGC 2392, nicknamed the Lion Nebula, using the NIRCam and MIRI instruments. The observations reveal details of dust and gas that were not visible in earlier images.
In 2000, the Hubble Space Telescope imaged the Lion Nebula in visible light, showing a lion face-shaped bubble of ionized gas and a “mane” of hazy, comet-shaped objects. Webb’s high-resolution infrared vision now provides a sharper and more detailed view of the same structures.
In the combined NIRCam and MIRI image, the nebula’s overall shape resembles Hubble’s view, but infrared highlights compact clumps of dust and a pervasive haze of ionized gas. These features stand out because infrared can penetrate the dust that scatters visible light.
The nebula’s current structure took several thousand years to form and is still evolving. The engine of this change is the dying star at the center, which appears as the lion’s button nose. Its energy and radiation drive the intricate features seen across the nebula.
The MIRI image alone emphasizes the distribution of dust, showing where it is being destroyed by the central star’s intense radiation. Comparing the two views helps scientists understand how planetary nebulae disperse heavy elements into space.
Image processing for the released pictures was led by Alyssa Pagan of the Space Telescope Science Institute. The images are part of ongoing Webb observations of evolved stars and their surrounding nebulae.
