In a newly-released picture, the Helix Nebula reveals parts of its rich galactic background, which looks amazing when compared to the eye-shaped galaxy. The European Southern Observatory (ESO)'s instrument, La Silla Observatory, based in Chile, has been used for this new picture, which has astronomers buzzing with excitement while analyzing it. The formation is situated relatively close, just 700 light-years away, in the Aquarius constellation, and is codenamed NGC 7293.

The Helix is a fine example of a planetary nebula, astronomers say, drawing attention to the fact that this stage in a star's development is the final one, before it collapses into a white dwarf. It goes without saying that the “planetary nebula” name has nothing to do with planets per se. It simply refers to the last expansion, or “blooming” of a star before it dies. At this point, all its gas reserves are already depleted, and it cannot sustain its nuclear fusion processes anymore.

During this stage, hot gases are expelled from the rather small central star, which is in turn extremely bright and hot. The halo that is generated around this particular nebula spans more than 2 light-years in diameter, which makes it a real giant when compared to other celestial bodies. The clouds of gas around it shine for us to see because they are exposed to the harsh ultraviolet radiation coming from the core. Despite all this, it's very hard to spot, because its faint glow spreads over a large portion of the sky.

Due to its huge size and relative closeness to the Earth, the nebula would normally extend over a portion of the sky roughly equal to that occupied by a quarter of the size of a full Moon. This means that scientists can easily study it and learn more about the way it was formed and how it evolves over time. Astronomers have now come to think that there are actually two discs inside this formation, one of which is currently expanding at a speed of 62,137 miles per hour (100 000 km/h).

Hi-res pictures show “cometary knots” extending from the nebula. On the photos, they appear to be very small and thin, but, upon receiving the results of mathematical equations, the astronomers have learned that they are each roughly the size of our solar system. And the Helix has hundreds of them, just to give you an idea of how large this thing really is.