Abdullah al mamun - Sagor

28/04/2026

28/04/2026

The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) is one of the brightest planetary nebulae closest to Earth.
It is located in the constellation Aquarius, approximately 700 light-years away.
It is the remnant of a star similar to the Sun that, after exhausting its fuel, ejected its outer layers into space.
At its center lies a white dwarf, a dense and extremely hot stellar core (the size of Earth but with the mass of a star) that causes the surrounding gases to glow.
It has a helical or ring shape composed mainly of hydrogen (red tones) and oxygen (blue/green tones). It has a diameter of about 2.5 light-years.
It contains thousands of filamentary structures known as "knots," which resemble comets and contain dense clumps of gas and dust that resist radiation from the central star.
Astronomers study it intensively because it offers a glimpse of what will likely happen to our own Solar System in about 5 billion years.
Despite its distance, it occupies an area in the sky equivalent to half the diameter of the full Moon, although it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye.
Based on its rate of expansion, it is estimated to be about 10,600 years old.

Picture by Bob Fera & Steve Mandel

28/04/2026

5... 4... 3... 2... 1... 🪩

At NASA, we know a thing or two about a countdown!

While a rocket launch isn't always quite as predictable as ringing in the New Year, you can keep track of our planned launch activities all in one place: https://www.nasa.gov/event-type/launch-schedule/

28/04/2026

The NASA Artemis II mission, set to lift off as soon as February, will mark the first time astronauts have aimed to venture beyond near-Earth orbit since 1972.

28/04/2026