Photo of the day: space amethyst in the heart of a dying star

A planetary nebula is a shell of ionized gas around a white dwarf. Such stars are formed in the last stages of the life of luminaries with masses of up to several solar masses. When the thermonuclear burning of hydrogen in the interior of a star ends, changes in its internal structure lead to expansion and transformation into a red giant. Then compression occurs with the ejection of the outer layers into space in the form of giant clouds of dust and gas, as a result of which a white dwarf is formed.

Structure IC 4593 lies approximately 7,800 light-years from Earth. In the above image, the object resembles a colossal amethyst, a semi-precious stone with a bluish-purple structure.

Note that the Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched back in 1999 to explore space in the X-ray range. Initially, the service life of the observatory was estimated at five years, but the apparatus is successfully operating to this day.

Below is an image of the planetary nebula IC 4593 taken by the Hubble Orbiting Telescope.