The Cat's Eye Nebula | Hubble

The Cat's Eye Nebula | Hubble

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows one of the most complex planetary nebulae ever seen, NGC 6543, nicknamed the "Cat's Eye Nebula." Hubble reveals surprisingly intricate structures including concentric gas shells, jets of high-speed gas and unusual shock-induced knots of gas. Estimated to be 1,000 years old, the nebula is a visual "fossil record" of the dynamics and late evolution of a dying star.

Distance: 3,000 light years

Credit: J.P. Harrington and K.J. Borkowski (University of Maryland), and NASA/European Space Agency

Release Date: January 11, 1995

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