planetary nebulae
Why do Planetary Nebulae Look the Way They Do?
Planetary nebulae are the most beautiful objects in the night sky. Their gossamer shells of gas are otherworldly and evocative.…
What Decides the Shape of Planetary Nebulae? Whatever’s Orbiting a Star When it Dies
Planetary nebulae are some of the most beautiful objects in the galaxy, spanning a variety of shapes and sizes. They're…
Here’s a New Planetary Nebula for Your Collection: CVMP 1
Some stars die a beautiful death, ejecting their outer layers of gas into space, then lighting it all up with…
The Future of Our Sun is Still a Bit of a Puzzle. What Will Happen When it Dies?
A new study by an international team of astronomers has demonstrated with scientific confidence what will happen to our Sun…
A Primer on Cosmic Sprinklers
The planetary nebula Fleming 1, as seen with ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Credit: ESO/H. Boffin The neat thing about planetary…
How Much Do Binary Stars Shape Planetary Nebulae?
[/caption] Planetary nebulae come in a dazzling array of shapes, from spherical shells of gas, to blobby structures barely containing…
A Newly Discovered Planetary Nebula Teaches Us About Galactic Composition
Determining the chemical distribution of the galaxy is a tricky business. The ideal method is spectroscopy but since high quality…
Hubble Spies an Amazing Cosmic Spiral
[/caption] The Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys has captured a remarkable image of a spiral in space. No,…