~ NGC 2240 ~

 

 

(article)
This nebula is powered by an incredibly hot central star (not shown in this image).
The central star, a white dwarf, is enshrouded by the cocoon of gas that it shed a few tens of thousands of
years ago. It is estimated that the temperature of this star may hold the current record at over 300,000
degrees Fahrenheit. Hubble Space Telescope images have caputured both the central star
and the complex gas cloud that surrounds it.