Chillingly Beautiful! Boomerang Nebula - one of the coldest known places in universe

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has been providing breathtaking images of the universe for over three decades. This picture of the Boomerang Nebula, a protoplanetary nebula located 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus, was taken in early 2005 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) onboard the telescope.

The classic Hubble image reveals intricate details of the nebula's hourglass shape, which appears like a boomerang. The two nearly symmetric lobes (or cones) of matter that are being ejected from the central star give the nebula a unique appearance and name. Each lobe is nearly one light-year in length, making the total length of the nebula half as long as the distance from our Sun to our nearest neighbours - the Alpha Centauri stellar system, which lies roughly 4 light-years away.

Astronomers are still uncertain about the exact cause of this bipolar outflow in young nebulae like the Boomerang. One theory suggests that a disk of slow-moving material around the central star's equator is blocking more rapidly moving ejected material, allowing only matter closer to the poles to be ejected. Another theory suggests that magnetic fields are responsible for constraining the material and causing the double-lobed shape of the nebula. 

What a catch!This #HubbleClassic image from 2005 shows the Boomerang Nebula, made of two lobes of matter being ejected from one central star.Learn more about this nebula: https://t.co/f98rfXgmZN pic.twitter.com/VVuo1nya1a

— Hubble (@NASAHubble) March 13, 2023

Chillingly Beautiful

The Boomerang Nebula continues to fascinate astronomers and space enthusiasts alike with its stunning beauty and intricate shape.

Submillimeter radio measurements reveal that the deep interior of the Boomerang Nebula has a temperature of only one degree Kelvin above absolute zero, which is equal to nearly -460 degrees Fahrenheit, making its inner regions one of the coldest known places in the universe.