NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula is also known as the Eye of God. It is 695 light years from Earth, in the constellation Aquarius, and has a radius of 2.87 light years.

This is one of my favorite deep sky objects. This image was taken in the summer month of July with a ZWO ASI1600MM Pro mono astronomy camera with Chroma 3nm Ha and OIII filters. It's also one of the first images I took with my Software Bisque Paramount MX+ mount.

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The star that created the Helix Nebula was very similar to our Sun. In fact, there is a chance that this is what will become of the Sun once the hydrogen in its core has been exhausted. The central star within the nebula eventually expanded into a red giant. At the end of the Red Giant phase, the star expelled it's outer layers into space and created the planetary nebula we see today. Once the all of its material has been expelled, and only the core remains, it will become a white dwarf.