The Helix nebula is one of the closer planetary nebula created by the death throes of a star much like our own Sun. The remnant of the star, a white dwarf, glows and causes the material previously expelled to fluoresce. The Helix is 700 light-years distant in the constellation Aquarius and spans 2.5 light-years. The inner ring contains radially symmetric knots of nebulosity each of which is the size of our solar system. Taken from the backyard using narrowband filters.