NASA frequently shares captivating videos, images, and space-related insights across its social media platforms. Recently, the space agency shared an extraordinary celestial phenomenon called 'cosmic jewelry,' located a staggering 15,000 light-years from Earth, through the lens of the Hubble Space Telescope. This cosmic spectacle is nicknamed Necklace Nebula.
"It was created by a pair of aging, tightly orbiting Sun-like stars. One of the aging stars expanded and engulfed its smaller companion, but the smaller star continued to orbit inside its larger companion," NASA said.
"This increased the bloated giant's rotation rate until large parts of it spun outwards into space, and the escaping ring of debris formed the Necklace Nebula, with particularly dense clumps of gas forming the bright "diamonds" around the ring," it added.
In the vivid depiction of the image, the space agency added, "A small, bright green region of gas is surrounded by a ring of glowing cosmic material, concentrated in pale clumps that resemble diamonds along a necklace. The rest of the image shows black space dotted with several bright stars and a couple of small regions of dark red gas."
This captivating post was shared on Instagram on March 13, garnering nearly 55,000 likes and numerous comments. Many individuals expressed their admiration for the mesmerising Necklace Nebula in the comments section.
One individual expressed, "That's absolutely beautiful," while another whimsically mused, "A cosmic giant lost her bracelet in the abyss."
Social media users echoed sentiments of awe, with one remarking, "Absolutely stunning," and another drawing parallels to science fiction, stating, "This seems like something out of an episode of Star Trek."
