Scientists Spot 22 Helix Nebula Shocks, Tracing 10,000-Year Recycling Into the Milky Way
Updated
Updated · Space.com · Aug 17
Scientists Spot 22 Helix Nebula Shocks, Tracing 10,000-Year Recycling Into the Milky Way
3 articles · Updated · Space.com · Aug 17
Summary
22 complete or partial bow shocks in the Helix Nebula’s outer halo gave astronomers their first direct view of dead-star debris breaking up and rejoining interstellar gas.
MOTHRA researchers found the structures by accident while calibrating the new instrument on the well-known nebula, 650 light-years away in Aquarius.
The arcs grow smaller, fuzzier and more fragmented farther from the central white dwarf, indicating the expelled clumps are being eroded as they plow into the interstellar medium.
The team estimates the nebular material survives about 10,000 years after hitting that medium before it is fully shredded and absorbed.
Published in Nature on Aug. 12, the findings outline the fate awaiting the Sun in roughly 5 billion years, when its own material should enter the same galactic cycle.