The Eye of God

The Helix Nebula, often referred to as the "Eye of God," is a breathtaking cosmic marvel. Located about 650 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, it resembles a vast, colorful eye gazing back at us. This large, vibrant planetary nebula was formed by the release of gas from a dying white dwarf star.

This beautiful portrait of the nebula was captured by a Planewave CDK24 telescope at El Sauce Observatory in Chile. It combines narrowband data that isolates light from sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen wavelengths to create this false-color image.

The raw data was curated by a remote telescope service and then combined, calibrated, and processed by Richard Leighton to produce the final image.