Spiral In the Winged Horse Constallation

[Tecnos]

The theory is that a dying star in orbit around another star is giving off clouds of matter. Possibly the building blocks of life itself.....



Astronomers say it is one of the most perfect geometrical shapes they have ever spotted.

They cannot be sure how the whirling mass - photographed in the Winged Horse constellation by the Hubble space telescope - was formed. But the best theory is that a pair of twin stars, hidden behind thick dust, are orbiting each other every 800 or so years.

One star is thought to be gradually dying and losing material, which is being twisted into the spiral pattern by the twin.

The material is racing outwards at more than 30,000mph.

Astronomers call the shell-like phenomenon a "planetary nebula".

It is being studied by a team led by Professor Mark Morris of the University of California in Los Angeles.

Robin Scagell, of Britain's Society for Popular Astronomy, said: "It's an amazing picture. It shows the universe is full of wonders."



By Dr BRIAN COX

THIS eerie spiral is a perfect example of how nature can produce objects looking like they were designed by an alien super-intelligence.

And, who knows, it may yet lead to the creation of an alien world.

We are looking at a star reaching the end of its life and launching layers into the universe.

In the process, it is building many of the chemical elements we are made of.

Take carbon, for example, the building block of all life on Earth.

We know that for the first billion years in the life of the universe there was no carbon. It was made in dying stars like this one.

Eventually, this newly-minted carbon got caught up in the formation of new stars and planets and ended up in things like you and me.

Perhaps one day the little building blocks of life hidden in this ghostly spiral will form part of a new world.

And maybe it will include alien astronomers who will dream about their origins...

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