The image is based on photographs of the Helix Nebula captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The image is a composite of multiple photographs (including some taken by a land-based telescope) and has been artificially tinted.
The above-displayed image is a real photograph of the
The Helix Nebula does not naturally appear with the colors shown above; however, the tinting of the image is artificial. The picture's "Eye of God" appellation is a title coined by an admirer of the photograph due to the nebula's resemblance to a human eye, not something designated by NASA, and the nebula is also visible all the time, not merely "once in 3000 years."