The fact that Space Telescope WFPC2 images of the planetary nebula NGC 6537 fail to show the central star is used to derive a limit to its magnitude: it is fainter than a magnitude of 22.4 in the visible. This is used to derive a lower limit to the temperature of the star. The Zanstra temperature is at least 500 000 K. The Energy Balance temperature is found to be consistent with this value, as is the ionization state of the nebula. Assuming a reasonable range of distances for the nebula, the radius of the star can be found. It is consistent with the mass-radius relation of a white dwarf of 0.9 Msun or higher.

The Red Spider Nebula, caught by Webb

A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.

From the center of the solar system, rages a powerful wind. Sent by the Sun, this wind whips at speeds exceeding one million miles per hour as it traverses to the edge of interstellar space bathing everything in its path. This is the solar wind.

A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.

Joel Kastner, Professor, Imaging Science, Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, College of Science, 585-475-7179, jhkpci@rit.edu. Joel Kastner (Ph.D. in Astronomy, UCLA 1990) is a Professor on the faculty of Rochester Institute of Technology’s Center for Imaging Science and School of Physics & Astronomy. He was the founding Director of RIT's Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics.Prior to his two decades at RIT, Prof. Kastner spent almost a decade at MIT, first as Bantrell Postdoc at MIT Haystack Radio Observatory and then as staff scientist with MIT's side of the Chandra (then AXAF) X-ray Science Center.Prof. Kastner's research interests lie in the early and late stages of stellar evolution -- i.e., the formative stages of stars and planetary systems, and their death throes. He has conducted observations of forming and dying stars and stellar systems across a broad swath of the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio to X-rays.Prof. Kastner was among the original group of (roughly 230) astronomers named as "Legacy" Fellows of the American Astronomical Society in 2020, and presently serves as Chair of the AAS Committee on Employment.A complete list of Prof. Kastner's publications can be found at this link to NASA's Astrophysics Data System.

A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.

A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.

A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.

Learn more about what these groups of stars can (and can’t) tell us about our place in the universe.

Light-year is the distance light travels in one year. Light zips through interstellar space at 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) per second and 5.88 trillion

Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the history of our Universe.

Infrared waves, or infrared light, are part of the electromagnetic spectrum. People encounter Infrared waves every day; the human eye cannot see it, but