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I tried to develop better images than NASA – and failed
by Samuel Buchmann
Webb telescope shows the "Eye of Sauron" in new depth of detail
21.1.2026
Translation: machine translated
The image of the Helix Nebula shows part of the inner ring of the "Eye of Sauron" and thus provides a new view of the late stage of a sun-like star.
The James Webb Space Telescope has released a new image of the Helix Nebula, revealing one of the most recognisable objects in the sky in unprecedented detail. The image was taken by the near-infrared camera (NIRCam). You can see a section of the expanding gas ring with thousands of columnar structures and so-called «cometary nodes». These are denser clusters of gas and dust that align away from the central star like tail stars.
The Helix Nebula is a so-called planetary nebula and is located around 650 light years away in the constellation of Aquarius. Despite the name, planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets: they are the final phase of stars with a similar mass to the sun, which shed their outer layers towards the end of their lives. The exposed, extremely hot stellar relict ionises the previously ejected gas and makes it appear as a luminous shell. The Helix Nebula is one of the closest and brightest planetary nebulae. It became known as the «Eye of God» or «Eye of Sauron» thanks to numerous images taken by the Hubble telescope and also by amateurs.
Source: NASA
The Webb telescope does not focus on the entire nebula, but on part of the inner ring. In the new image, the transitions from hot to cooler gas are clearly visible: bluish areas mark strongly ionised gas near the stellar relic (outside the image section). Yellowish regions show cooler gas. The reddish zones at the edge correspond to the coolest areas.
The finely resolved «nodes» along the ring have been known for some time, but Webb shows their structure in unprecedented sharpness. The columnar formations are created when hot winds from the dying star collide with previously ejected, denser matter and erode it. Typically, these knots are about the size of the solar system.
NASA wants to use the new data set to better understand the late developmental phases of sun-like stars. Planetary nebulae are important laboratories for astrophysics. They show how stars return chemically enriched material (such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen) into space and thus influence the formation of subsequent generations of stars and planets. As the Helix Nebula is comparatively close, it is particularly suitable for measuring these processes in detail and comparing them with previous observations.
Header image: NASA
Samuel Buchmann
Senior Editor
Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.chMy fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.
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