Cat’s Eye Nebula: Wide-field view | Euclid Space Telescope | ESA

Cat’s Eye Nebula: Close-up & Wide-field views | Euclid Space Telescope | ESA

These are zoom-ins of the European Space Agency Euclid space telescope’s Deep Field North, showing the Cat’s Eye Nebula in the center of the images, around 3,000 light-years away in the constellation Draco. Also known as NGC 6543, this nebula is a visual ‘fossil record’ of the dynamics and late evolution of a dying star. This dying star is shedding its outer colorful shells. 

Wide-field Image Description: The Cat’s Eye Nebula takes center stage in a sparkling sea of stars and galaxies. A dot lies at the center of the nebula, the sight of the dying star. Around it are a series of complex and colorful layers and loops of gas and dust that have been ejected by the star over time. Further away are tendrils and patches of gas and dust in various shapes and sizes that give the impression of fragments of a burst balloon frozen around the point of explosion. Millions of galaxies lie in the background. Numerous bright stars with distinct diffraction spikes are also clearly visible.

Image Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, E. Bertin, G. Anselmi
Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO or ESA Standard Licence
Release Date: March 19, 2025

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