Physical Size
A scroll-driven journey through the scale of the universe, from subatomic structures to the largest known cosmic systems.
NGC 7027
Cat's Eye Nebula
Planetary nebula
NGC 7027
A young planetary nebula: a gas shell from a dying star.
NGC 7027 is a young planetary nebula in Cygnus with a compact bright inner region wrapped in fainter outer shells of gas. Recent Hubble observations show a remnant still changing shape, where newer, more directed outflows are running into older material shed by the dying central star.
- maximum extent
- 1,890 billion km · 0.2 ly
- Composition
- Gas, dust, and stellar ejecta
- Orbits
- Milky Way
- Imaged by
- Hubble · 2020
Image: NASA, ESA, and J. Kastner (RIT) · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons