Planetary nebulae represent a brief, yet illuminating, phase in the evolution of low- to intermediate-mass stars. These glowing shells of ionised gas are shed in the late stages of stellar development ...

Since the discovery of planetary nebulae in the late 1700s, astronomers have learned that these expanding shells of glowing gas expelled by low-intermediate mass stars late in their lives can come in ...

In the cold dark of the constellation Ophiuchus, a faint, wraithlike shell of gas is quietly advertising the fate that awaits our own Sun. Astronomers call it the Little Ghost Nebula, a planetary ...

The sky is filled with great planetary nebulae for backyard observers. Their small size and relatively high surface brightnesses make them easy to observe in most telescopes — and decent targets on ...

Oh what a beautiful cosmic web we weave! This little cosmic creepy crawler is the Red Spider planetary nebula (formal designation NGC 6537). It can be found about 4,000 light-years away in the ...

The Helix Nebula is one of the most well-known and commonly photographed planetary nebulae because it resembles the “Eye of Sauron.” It is also one of the closest bright nebulae to Earth, located ...

Images of two iconic planetary nebulae taken by the Hubble Space Telescope are revealing new information about how they develop their dramatic features. Researchers from Rochester Institute of ...

A planetary nebula (PN, plural PNe), is a type of emission nebula consisting of an expanding, glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from red giant stars late in their lives. The term "planetary nebula" ...

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Most distant celestial objects, such as galaxies and nebulae, generally do not exhibit perceived color through telescopes due to their low surface brightness, which is insufficient to activate the ...