In 1995, using the 15-metre Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope in Chile, astronomers revealed that it is the coldest place in the Universe found so far, besides laboratory-created temperatures. The nebula was photographed in detail by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1998 revealing a more symmetric hourglass shape. Unable to view it with great clarity, the astronomers saw merely a slight asymmetry in the nebula's lobes suggesting a curved shape like a boomerang. Keith Taylor and Mike Scarrott called it the "Boomerang Nebula" in 1980 after observing it with the Anglo-Australian telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory. The outflowing gas is moving outwards at a speed of about 164 km/s and expanding rapidly as it moves out into space this gas expansion results in the nebula's unusually low temperature. ![]() Millimeter scale dust grains mask portions of the nebula's center so most escaping visible light is in two opposing lobes forming a distinctive hourglass shape as viewed from Earth. It continues to form and develop due to the outflow of gas from its core where a star in its late stage life sheds mass and emits starlight illuminating dust in the nebula. The Boomerang Nebula is believed to be a star system evolving toward the planetary nebula phase. Recent observations with the ALMA telescope in Chile reveal a different and more complex shape.The Boomerang Nebula, as taken by Hubble Space Telescope in 2003Ĭentaurus Bipolar Nebula, ESO 172-7, 2MASS J12444609-5431133, LEDA 3074547 ![]() Previously, this nebula was thought to have a bow-tie shape. Image via īottom line: Astronomers say the Boomerang Nebula is the coldest place in the universe at one degree Kelvin (minus 458 degrees Fahrenheit). And so it goes, with advancing technologies revealing ever more detail about the universe around us. Prior to the new observations with ALMA, astronomers had thought this nebula had a bow-tie shape. Read more from NRAO: ALMA Reveals Ghostly Shape of ‘Coldest Place in the Universe’ Boomerang Nebula seen at visible wavelengths with the Hubble Space Telescope. It’s apparently the very rapid expansion of the gases that makes the nebula so cold. This is similar in principle to the way refrigerators use expanding gas to produce cold temperatures. The outflow of gas from this particular star is expanding rapidly and cooling itself in the process. ![]() In a press release from NRAO, astronomers who study this object explain: At this stage, the nebula is seen by starlight reflecting off its dust grains. The new ALMA data suggests that the twin lobes of the bow-tie may be a trick of the light as seen at visible wavelengths.Īstronomers say the Boomerang Nebula is on its way to becoming a planetary nebula that is, eventually its central star will become a white dwarf or condensed star, which will cause the nebula to glow. In 2005, the Hubble Space Telescope revealed a bow-tie structure (see the image at the bottom of this post). Ground-based telescopes originally showed the Boomerang as appearing lopsided, which is how it got its name. Credit: Bill Saxton NRAO/AUI/NSF NASA/Hubble Raghvendra Sahai | Boomerang Nebula seen at submillimeter wavelengths with the ALMA telescope in Chile. With these observations, astronomers also have a better understanding of the shape of the Boomerang Nebula, which previously was thought to be reminiscent of a bow-tie. The image below is the result of those new observations. ![]() That’s even colder than the faint afterglow of the Big Bang, which is the natural background temperature of space: colder than space itself.Īstronomers announced today (October 24, 2013) that they have used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile to take a new look at this object. They’ve learned that its temperature is one degree Kelvin (minus 458 degrees Fahrenheit). Astronomers say the Boomerang Nebula is the coldest known object in the universe. It once was a star much like our sun, but now it’s near the end of its life, and it has sloughed off its outer layers. This object is located some 5,000 light-years away. Meet the Boomerang Nebula – a young example of what astronomers call a planetary nebula, although it has nothing to do with planets.
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