Somebody's watching you...
![space196-helix-nebula_53519_600x450.jpg](/forums/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.nationalgeographic.com%2Fwpf%2Fmedia-live%2Fphotos%2F000%2F535%2Foverrides%2Fspace196-helix-nebula_53519_600x450.jpg&hash=ba74d87bb22d144a53bf43a09b9acf92)
Ghostly Eye
Image courtesy Caltech/NASA
A newly released image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) shows the ultraviolet glow of the Helix nebula, also called NGC 7293.
The object is what's known as a planetary nebula, which is made from the gas and dust left over after a sunlike star dies. The dense core of the star, called a white dwarf, sits at the center of this eerie cosmic "eye."