planetary nebula

Common Envelope Binary Art

After a fiery embrace, some stars undergo metamorphosis

Water fountain stars recently — or still are — eating their binary companions.

By Phil Plait 1 week ago

Artist rendition of V Hydrae

DUDE, where's my carbon star?

V Hydrae is dying and blowing smoke rings.

By Phil Plait 1 month ago

Phil Plait Bad Astronomy VLT_NGC474_PN_distance

Beautifully dying stars and the scale of the Universe

By Phil Plait 9 months ago

Hubble image of Abell 78, a dying star that cast of its outer layers to form a planetary nebula. It underwent a late pulse of energy, sending blobs of gas outward at high speeds. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Guerrero. Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

A star that lived, then died, then lived again, then died for real

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

StDr 56, a possible planetary nebula in the constellation of Triangulum. It’s about the same size as the full Moon on the sky. Credit: Robert Pölz, Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner

So what the heck is StDr 56?

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

Henize 3-1357, aka the Stingray Nebula, seen in 1996 and 2006 by Hubble, has changed significantly over that time, fading in many places. Credit: NASA, ESA, B. Balick (University of Washington), M. Guerrero (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía), and G

The rise and rapid fall of the Stingray Nebula

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

Hubble’s view of the planetary nebula NGC 7662. Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Hajian (University of Waterloo)

Memories of the Blue Snowball

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

ALMA observation of the gas around the dying star R Aquilae showing complex spirals and arcs. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), Decin et al.

Cosmic flowers bloom as stars begin to die

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

A deep color image of the planetary nebula NGC 6804 shows it to be a relatively standard example of its kind, but there are glowing red clouds near it whose origin is unclear. Credit: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona

A dying star’s magnetic racing stripes

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

W43A is a rare beast: The expanding gas from a star that’s just beginning its final stage of dying. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), Tafoya et al.

Threading a cosmic needle: A fleeting glimpse of a dying star's final moments

By Phil Plait 1 year ago