Helix Nebula, California

The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) is one of the closest and most famous planetary nebulae, located in the constellation Aquarius at a distance of about 650 light-years from Earth. Formed when a Sun-like star shed its outer layers near the end of its life, the nebula appears as a vast, glowing ring of ionized gas roughly 2.5 light-years across, making it one of the largest planetary nebulae in the sky by apparent size. Its intricate structure includes thousands of dense cometary knots—clumps of gas and dust with tails pointing away from the hot central white dwarf—shaped by intense ultraviolet radiation. Often described as resembling a cosmic eye, the Helix Nebula offers a detailed and nearby example of stellar death and the recycling of material back into the interstellar medium.