Planetary nebula
- 1/15
New Photo Reveals 'Ghostly' Green Nebula in Deep Space
ESO - 2/15
Spellbinding Cosmic Beauty: Why Astronomy Images Matter
X-ray: NASA/CXC/RIT/J.Kastner et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI - 3/15
Spellbinding Cosmic Beauty: Why Astronomy Images Matter
X-ray: NASA/CXC/RIT/J.Kastner et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI - 4/15
Celestial Wonder Looks Uncannily Like a Manatee
NRAO/AUI/NSF, K. Golap, M. Goss; NASA’s Wide Field Survey Explorer (WISE) - 5/15
Planetary nebula
- 6/15
Planetary nebula
- 7/15
Planetary nebula
- 8/15
Planetary nebula
- 9/15
Planetary nebula
- 10/15
Planetary nebula
- 11/15
Planetary nebula
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Planetary nebula
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Planetary nebula
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Planetary nebula
- 15/15
Planetary nebula
The term "planetary nebula" dates back to the 18th century when astronomers thought these glowing blobs looked like distant gas giants. A planetary nebula is actually made up of the shells of stellar material ejected from dying stars that have passed through the red giant phase after starting to run out of fuel.