Talk:Helix Nebula

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[edit] Image

"..and also as the "Eye of Sauron" due to its resemblance to said object in the "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy. However, this name is false and the stylized picture with the blue "iris" is a composite image."

The image was taken by the Hubble telescope and is displayed on nasa.gov as an authentic photo of the nebula. Scientific American (the magazine) has also had an article featuring the helix nebula and has used the same image as a photo of the nebula. As a result, I have removed the latter sentence of the quote.

snopes says the image has had its colours altered. it seems that this is a more authentic photo. Shakey-Lo 16:30, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
All HST images are false color - "altered" implies that a real photograph was taken and then changed, and this is not what they do. It is instead a representative color image - each color represents one type of material in the clouds, or a certain set of conditions (temperature, density, etc.). [1] --zandperl 04:05, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't think that having two versions of essentially the same image is useful. I suggest we have one of the two be the main image at the top (whichever gets voted as a good picture), and replace the second within the text of either a different wavelength (for example the Spitzer Space Telescope image, or the APOD one listed above, or one of the many HST closeup images here. --zandperl 04:05, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Unused image

There is a slightly different image of this nebula at Image:God's_Eye.png. If anyone thinks it would be beneficial to add this alternate image in some way, go ahead. Otherwise, I'll list it at WP:IFD as an orphan. --Icarus (Hi!) 09:25, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Knots

Anyone have any idea how big those knots are? Are they the size of a star? of a solar system? --Lenehey (talk) 18:40, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Added approximate size Dayfield (talk) 21:31, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Introductory reference

Is the fact that the nebula appeared in "Battlestar Galactica" really of such encyclopaedic importance that it belongs in the introductory paragraph?

[edit] Image Change?

A user recently changed the main image of the page. I have changed it back for now. The image that was originally there is a featured image, and whether or not the proposed new one is better is a personal judgement call, so I think any proposed change should be discussed first. The relevant images are:

Original image
Original image
Proposed new image
Proposed new image

I personally prefer the original image, as it more displays a greater portion of the helix shape instead of just the "eye-like" interior that is the most famous part, but not as complete a representation of the whole nebula. The new image is nice, however, and in my experience is more commonly used precisely because it does increase the element of pareidolia, so I think it would be fine to include it later in the article. --Icarus (Hi!) 01:58, 14 May 2008 (UTC)