Cosmic Scale
Cat's Eye Nebula
Planetary nebula · About 4,300 light-years
How big is Cat's Eye Nebula?
Cat's Eye Nebula is about 0.50 light-years across.
See Cat's Eye Nebula in 3D, at true scale
The Cat's Eye Nebula is the cast-off gas of a dying star, and one of the most detailed planetary nebulae known. Its bright core is wrapped in at least eleven faint rings. These are shells the star puffed out over thousands of years.
At a glance
| Diameter | 0.50 light-years |
|---|---|
| Diameter compared with Earth | 3.7 × 10⁸ × Earth |
| Distance | About 4,300 light-years |
| Size | About 0.5 light-years across (core) |
| Age | About 1,000 years (core) |
| Also known as | NGC 6543 |
Good to know
- Its rings are shells the star puffed off about every 1,500 years, like layers of an onion.
- Its central star loses about twenty trillion tonnes of gas every second.
- In 1864 it became the first nebula shown to be made of glowing gas, not stars.
- Next smaller: Little Ghost Nebula · 0.50 light-years
- Next larger: IC 4593 · 0.54 light-years