Scientists have discovered a glowing bubble of hot gas and unexpected bright x-ray radiation from a star within the Cat's Eye planetary nebula in an image captured by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The phenomenon could be attributed to the expulsion of material from a star in the process of becoming a white dwarf, which is the end product of the evolutionary process of stars. It is the first time that such an x-ray emission has been seen from the central star of a planetary nebula. Chandra, formerly the X-Ray Astrophysics Facility, was deployed from the Space Shuttle Columbia in July 1999. With the European Space Agency's Newton X-ray Multi Mirror spacecraft mission launched in December 1999, it is helping to revolutionise x-ray astronomy.
Source: Flight International