ON TOPIC
Artful Science
a roundup of the year’s most artistic science research and photographs
Image courtesy of ESO.
By Yasmin Tayag
Associate Editor
Celestial Jewelry
Astronomers at the European Southern Observatory in Chile caught the uncannily
round nebula Abell 33 as it aligned with a foreground star, HD 83535, resulting in an
image resembling a cosmic engagement ring. As the progenitor star at the heart of
Abell 33 ages, it throws out its atmosphere, which we see as the colorful clouds in the
image. Its near-perfect symmetry is a rare occurrence, and even more fortuitous was
its chance alignment with HD 83535, sandwiched between the nebula and Earth.
SciArt in America December 2014
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