NGC 7662: A Celestial Gem Processed by Judy Schmidt
Behold the breathtaking beauty of NGC 7662, affectionately nicknamed the "Blue Snowball Nebula." This stunning celestial object, expertly processed by the talented Judy Schmidt, is a planetary nebula located in the northern constellation Andromeda.
A Glimpse into Stellar Evolution
Planetary nebulae, despite their name, have nothing to do with planets. They are the beautiful, glowing shells of gas and dust ejected by stars in their final stages of life. As a star like our Sun ages, it sheds its outer layers, creating these often vibrant and intricate structures.
The History and Characteristics of the Blue Snowball
NGC 7662 was first discovered on October 6, 1784, by the German-born English astronomer William Herschel. It's a celestial wonder, described in the New General Catalogue as a "magnificent planetary or annular nebula, very bright, pretty small in angular size, round, blue, variable nucleus."
With an apparent visual magnitude of 8.3, the Blue Snowball Nebula spans an angular size of approximately 32 arcseconds by 28 arcseconds. Thanks to precise parallax measurements, we estimate its distance to be around 5,730 ± 340 light-years away.
Judy Schmidt's meticulous processing brings out the exquisite details and vibrant colors of this distant cosmic cloud, allowing us to appreciate the complex processes happening billions of miles away.
