Planetary nebula: The Helix Nebula This is composed of expanding gas that was blown off by a star as it collapsed to a white dwarf. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, J. Hester, A. Loll (ASU)) Supernova remnant: The Crab Nebula Exactly as the name says, this is all that remains of a ...
An example of a star-forming region and one of the most famous nebulae in the sky is the Orion Nebula.The Orion nebula is the most active area of star formation in our galaxy.Although it is visible to the unaided eye,it is only a vague glow.Through a telescope, the extent of its ...
Areflection nebulais adark nebula. However, it is visible because light from a nearby source is reflected off it, hence its name. The source of the light could be either something behind it, another nebula or a star. A well known Reflection Nebula is theWitch Head Nebulawhere it is refle...
TheOrion Nebulais an emission nebula and star-forming region. It is the most active star-forming region in our Galaxy, and can easily be observed up-close with a small telescope. The Orion Nebula is a perfect example of a star-forming region or “stellar nursery”. Planetary Nebulae When ...
A 3D illustration of a neutron star in the nebula. (Image credit: Shutterstock) Neutron stars are the remnants of giant stars that died in a fiery explosion known as a supernova. After such an outburst, the cores of these former stars compact into an ultradense object with the mass of...
A stellar nebula is a cloud of superheated gases and other elements formed by the explosive death of a massive star.Stellar nebulae emit brilliant waves of infrared light generated by dust particles within the cloud. The cosmic objects known as nebulae, from the Latin for cloud, serve as the...
A planetary nebula is a phenomenon that occurs when a small to medium star approaches the end of its life cycle. The first one was...
The term Planetary Nebula is one type of Nebulae (Not nebulas), which are large clouds of ice and dust that have been created in the aftermath of the death of a star. Although their name includes “planet”, they are nothing to do with planets. They do get their name from the mistaken...
(now known as Kepler's Star). Then came Galileo'stelescope. Soon it was possible to discern that there remains something after a distant supernova has faded: often a nebula, with a much-diminished star at its heart. In 1885 a stella nova flared into being that would prove to hail from...
What is a Star? It's a cloudless night and you're sitting outside, looking up at twinkling lights in the dark sky above you. You wonder about those stars and what they're made of. People thousands of years ago wondered the same things, and now we have some pretty cool answers to ...