Cat's Eye Nebula

Cat's Eye Nebula  

The Cat's Eye Nebula or NGC 6543, is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Draco. Structurally, it is one of the most complex nebulae known, with high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope observations revealing remarkable structures such as knots, jets, bubbles and sinewy arc-like features. In the center of the Cat's Eye there is a bright and hot star; around 1000 years ago this star lost its outer envelope, producing the nebula.

Top 10 Star Mysteries

#1 Stellar Rumbles

A starquake is thought to be the tearing apart of the surface of a neutron star, much like an earthquake here on Earth. In 1999 astronomers identified these bursts as the cause of gamma rays and X-rays coming from neutron stars. Predicting these powerful bursts has remained a mystery. Recently, John Middleditch of Los Alamos National Laboratory and his team found that for a particular type of spinning neutron star called a pulsar, the time to the next quake is proportional to the size of the last quake.

Stellar Rumbles  (source: link)

Total Lunar Eclipse

Total lunar eclipse  15th April 2014  (source: link)

Lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its umbra (shadow). This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned (in "syzygy") exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a full moon. The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the Moon's location relative to its orbital nodes.

MAGNETIC STORM

Magnetic Storm  (source: link)

A magnetic storm is a disturbance in the Earth's magnetic field caused by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) or solar flares from the Sun. It usually begins between 24 and 36 hours after the solar event, when a shock wave of solar wind reaches the Earth's ionosphere. The storm then typically lasts 24 to 48 hours, though some may last as long as days. The effects of such a storm include disruption of communications and navigation systems, intense auroras, damage to satellites, and during the most extreme storms, induced currents in power lines and pipelines that result in power outages and corrosion.