Eye See You

Science has vastly clarified our conception of the heavens, yet if we aren't careful to pay attention to details, science can also alter our perception of what we're actually seeing.

The picture here is actually a composite of VISIBLE and INFRARED images superimposed on each other. This image of the Helix Nebula (captured by the Spitzer telescope in earth orbit) shows the actual MATTER present, but does so in a slightly confusing way.

If you were to look at this region of space with a powerful EARTH-BASED telescope, you would see the bluish-green outer portion, but the red center would be as black as the rest of the sky.

The reason the "pupil" of this cosmic "eye" appears red is because it is a region of very hot particles. That portion of the image is rich in infrared radiation. Yes, there's a star there, but it barely produces enough visible light to be seen...even with ultra-powerful telescopes. You can see the bluish-green part with a powerful telescope, but even that has been enhanced by the "cooler" infrared radiation present (remember, this picture is a COMPOSITE of both the VISIBLE and INFRARED features of the Helix Nebula).

Now I am not criticizing the scientists that produced this beautiful image--I'm just pointing out that people need to be careful in our age of advanced technology to understand that the pretty pictures they see are sometimes more complex than they appear.

The one thing about this eerie photo that you can be sure of is that it could have appeared this way ONLY from OUR SOLAR SYSTEM in recent times

This is because 1) all of the elements in this photo (all hundreds of light-years distant) are moving apart from each other, and are NOT in perfect alignment with any planetary system but ours, and 2) the technology to produce infrared imagery from an orbital telescope has only existed since the early 1960s.

Now I'm not a believer in any special significance for this very EYE-like feature in deep space, I just think it's cool.

Author's Addendum: occasionally I DO make mistakes. The Spitzer image here is NOT technically a COMPOSITE IMAGE. The Spitzer's camera is a complex multiband device that captures radiation from a wide segment of the spectrum from INFRARED to the edge of the VISIBLE. The incidental fact that the infrared false-color closely resembles colors of other images (including purely visible-light images) of the Helix Nebula is purely coincidental.