Medusa Nebula won’t turn you to stone
Most of us know the ancient Greek myth about the gorgon Medusa. She turned to stone those who dared gaze upon her face adorned with writhing snakes for hair. So, be forewarned before you look at this visage! Not to worry! I spent literally two full days imaging and processing this cosmic waif and am happy to announce, I’m still not turned to stone. I am, however, thinking of the Electric Light Orchestra’s hit song “Turned to Stone” as I write this.
The Medusa Nebula certainly lives up to its name including the cloudy snake-like head with biting mouth open at the top of her coiffure. As planetary nebulae (remnants from dead sun mass stars) go, Medusa is one of the dimmest (magnitude 15) as viewed from Earth. It took over 7 hours exposure time to capture this much of it. Using Mount Sangre’s 17-inch mirror telescope, it would probably take at least two nights of imaging to reveal the very dim extensions that dip well below and curl to the left of what you see here. The structure of this nebula is actually a whirling dervish of previous convulsive discharges of the dying star extending out as far as four light years in diameter. The white dwarf star although “dead” (no more nuclear fusion), has collapsed to form a very hot dense ember that spews intense ultraviolet radiation into space. This radiation literally rips electrons off the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the nebula causing it to glow red and blue-green.