Helix Nebula (NGC 7293)
The 'Eye of God'
One of the closest planetary nebulae to Earth — the final exhalation of a dying Sun-like star. Its eerie eye-like glow comes from gas heated by the central white dwarf.
Image: NASA / ESA / Hubble
Vital statistics
Type
Planetary Nebula
Distance
~655 light-years
Diameter
~2.5 light-years
Central star
White dwarf
Did you know
Glimpse of our Sun's fate in ~5 billion years.
Fact 01
Nicknamed the 'Eye of God' for its striking appearance.
Fact 02
Contains thousands of comet-like 'cometary knots'.
Fact 03
Research & publications
Jump straight into peer-reviewed papers, preprints and authoritative references for Helix Nebula (NGC 7293).
arXiv (preprints)
Open-access preprints in physics & astrophysics.
NASA ADS
The definitive bibliographic database for astronomy.
Google Scholar
Cross-publisher academic search.
Nature
Peer-reviewed articles in Nature & sister journals.
Wikipedia
Encyclopedic overview & onward references.
Tip: ask the Research AI for a curated reading list → /research
