The Butterfly Nebula, located just under 4,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius, is a striking example of a planetary nebula, the end stage in the evolution of a small- to medium-sized star. The butterfly’s diaphanous “wings” consist of gas and dust that have been expelled from the dying star and illuminated from within by the star’s remaining core. The nebula’s symmetrical, double-lobed shape is a telltale sign that a companion star helped shape the outflowing gases. Both the primary star and its companion are hidden by the shroud of dust in the nebula’s center.
Enlarge / The Butterfly Nebula, located just under 4,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius, is a striking example of a planetary nebula, the end stage in the evolution of a small- to medium-sized star. The butterfly’s diaphanous “wings” consist of gas and dust that have been expelled from the dying star and illuminated from within by the star’s remaining core. The nebula’s symmetrical, double-lobed shape is a telltale sign that a companion star helped shape the outflowing gases. Both the primary star and its companion are hidden by the shroud of dust in the nebula’s center.

Billions of years from now, as our Sun approaches the end of its life, it will be bloated and turn into a red giant star. It can no longer hold onto its layers of gas and dust after swallowing Mercury, Venus, and Earth.

The light will glow like a neon sign for thousands of years after it is ejected into space.

There are thousands of planetary nebulae in the universe. The normal end stage for stars is half the Sun's mass. A supernova is an explosion of a massive star. The shapes of planetary nebulae include the Southern Crab, the Cat's Eye, and the Butterfly. As beautiful as they are, they have also been a challenge to astronomer. A butterfly emerges from a red giant star.

Observations and computer models suggest that most red giants have a smaller companion star hidden in their embrace. The second star shapes the transformation into a planetary nebula like a potter shapes a vessel.

NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope has revealed extraordinary details in the Southern Ring Nebula, a planetary nebula that lies around 2,500-light-years away in the constellation Vela. On the left, a near-infrared image shows spectacular concentric shells of gas, which chronicle the history of the dying star’s outbursts. On the right, a mid-infrared image easily distinguishes the dying star at the nebula’s center (red) from its companion star (blue). All of the gas and dust in the nebula was expelled by the red star.
Enlarge / NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope has revealed extraordinary details in the Southern Ring Nebula, a planetary nebula that lies around 2,500-light-years away in the constellation Vela. On the left, a near-infrared image shows spectacular concentric shells of gas, which chronicle the history of the dying star’s outbursts. On the right, a mid-infrared image easily distinguishes the dying star at the nebula’s center (red) from its companion star (blue). All of the gas and dust in the nebula was expelled by the red star.

The red giant was the only star that was involved in the dominant theory. It sheds mass very quickly with only a weak hold on its outer layers. It causes the outer layers to pulse in and out by cooking it under the surface. The stellar wind is created by shock waves that blast gas and dust into space. It takes a lot of energy to get rid of this material. The wind must have the strength of a rocket blast.

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The inner layer of the star has collapsed into a white dwarf. The star, which is hotter and brighter than the red giant it came from, illuminates and warms the escaped gas until it starts glowing by itself. The process takes centuries to millennia but is very fast.

The astronomer at the University of Washington says that until the Hubble Space Telescope launched in 1990, they were pretty sure they were on the right track. At a conference in Austria, he and his colleague Adam Frank saw Hubble's first photos of planetary nebulae. The game had changed after we went out to get coffee.

Red giants should be spherically symmetrical and a round star should produce a planetary nebula. That wasn't what Hubble saw. An astronomer at the Rochester Institute of Technology says that many planetary nebulae have exotic structures. Hubble showed amazing structures that weren't round but were symmetrical around the main axis.

In early photos from ground-based observatories, the Southern Crab Nebula appeared to have four curved “legs” like a crab. But detailed images from the Hubble Space Telescope show that these legs are the sides of two bubbles that roughly form an hourglass shape. In the center of the bubbles are two jets of gas, with “knots” that may light up when they encounter the gas between the stars. The Southern Crab, located several thousand light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus, appears to have had two gas-releasing events. One around 5,500 years ago created the outer “hourglass,” and a similar event 2,300 years ago created the inner, much smaller one.
In early photos from ground-based observatories, the Southern Crab Nebula appeared to have four curved “legs” like a crab. But detailed images from the Hubble Space Telescope show that these legs are the sides of two bubbles that roughly form an hourglass shape. In the center of the bubbles are two jets of gas, with “knots” that may light up when they encounter the gas between the stars. The Southern Crab, located several thousand light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus, appears to have had two gas-releasing events. One around 5,500 years ago created the outer “hourglass,” and a similar event 2,300 years ago created the inner, much smaller one.
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