Hubble Reopens "Eye" on the Universe

The Hubble telescope reopened its "eye" on the universe following a successful December 1999 servicing mission by snapping a picture of the colorful death of a Sun-like star, dubbed the "Eskimo Nebula" (NGC 2392).

1. How did the Eskimo Nebula get its name, and what are the most interesting details in the picture?

This stellar relic, first spied by William Herschel in 1787, is nicknamed the "Eskimo" Nebula (NGC 2392) because, when viewed through ground-based telescopes, it resembles a face surrounded by a fur parka. In this Hubble telescope image, the "parka" is really a disk of material embellished with a ring of comet-shaped objects, with their tails streaming away from the central, dying star. The Eskimo's "face" also contains some fascinating details. Although this bright central region resembles a ball of twine, it is, in reality, a bubble of material being blown into space by the central star's intense "wind" of high-speed material.