The Cotton Candy Nebula is a nickname for the planetary nebula NGC 246, which is located in the constellation Cetus. It gets its nickname from its delicate, cotton candy-like appearance in images captured by telescopes. Planetary nebulae are the remnants of stars that have exhausted their fuel and expelled their outer layers, which then expand and cool into colorful clouds of gas and dust.
It is located in the Scorpius constellation and is considered a star-forming region. The nebula’s distinctive shape, which resembles cotton candy, is created by the interaction between the hot, massive stars at its center and the surrounding gas and dust. The intense radiation from the stars ionizes and heats the gas, causing it to glow and creating the bright, wispy appearance that has earned the nebula its nickname.
It is a cloud of gas and dust surrounding a dying star, which has shed its outer layers, revealing a hot core that illuminates the surrounding material. The colorful, wispy appearance of the nebula is due to the interaction of different elements and the emission of light at various wavelengths, creating a striking and visually stunning celestial object.
It is an astronomical object in the Scorpius constellation. It is classified as a protoplanetary nebula or post-AGB star, which is an unusual type of nebula. A proto-planetary nebula is an astronomical object that is in a phase of stellar evolution in which the star is discarding its outer layers and is on its way to becoming a true planetary nebula, which is another astronomical object composed primarily of gaseous materials and was discovered by the IRAS satellite. IRAS was launched in January 1982 and covered approximately 97% of the sky. IRAS 17150-3224 is another name for it. It is an excellent example of a DUPLEX protoplanetary nebula.
The Cotton Candy Nebula is difficult to see because it is only 16′′ long and does not shine. Michael E. Bakich is a senior editor at Astronomy who has studied the Cotton Candy Nebula. He confirmed that a 16-inch telescope is required to see the nebula. We were able to examine the ring-like structures that “cocoon” the nebula with the help of the IRAS 17150-3224 and the nebulae being in the perfect position where the starlight is blocked, as astronomer Sun Kwok put it. The spherical ring structures that surround the nebulae are formed during the red-giant stage, which is the final stage of stellar evolution.