The "Gemini North" telescope, located at the summit of Mauna Kea, the highest mountain in Hawaii, has captured a star in its final moments.
AzEdu.az reports that the "Associated Press" agency published information about this, citing the "NOIRLab" laboratory of the National Science Foundation, which operates the telescope.
"In fact, this is a binary star system located 1,500 light-years away, nicknamed the 'Crystal Ball Nebula' due to the milky spherical cloud surrounding it. One light-year is approximately six trillion miles. The mentioned gas cloud forms when the star sheds its outer layers near the end of its life. The exposed stellar core heats the cloud to tens of thousands of degrees, giving it an unusual brightness," the statement noted.
According to scientists, one of the two stars, which once was larger than the Sun and orbited the planetary nebula, has already ceased to exist. Last year, the "Gemini North" telescope officially observed this nebula, known as "NGC 1514," and its colorful image was fully prepared last week.
