Chandra Release - June 6, 2000

Visual Description: BD+30-3639

This is a Chandra X-ray Observatory image of a planetary nebula named BD+30 3639.   This image is dominated by orange and black colors, with the lightest orange colors representing the brightest part of the nebula. Planetary nebulae are a type of celestial object that form when a Sun-like star dies and its outer layers are ejected into space. BD+30 3639 is a bright planetary nebula in the sky, making it a popular target for astrophysicists to study. The image captures the high-energy parts of the nebula's structure, which resembles a brightly glowing, irregularly shaped gas cloud.  The image is a hot bubble of 3 million degree Celsius gas surrounding the dying star about 5000 light years from Earth. The distance across the bubble is roughly 100 times the diameter of our solar system.