Are stars better appreciated for their art after they die? Actually, stars usually create their most artistic displays "as" they die. In the case of low-mass stars like our Sun [ http://www.seds.org…] and M2-9 pictured above [ http://oposite.stsc…], the stars transform themselves from normal stars to white dwarfs [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] by casting off their outer gaseous envelopes. The expended gas frequently forms an impressive display called a planetary nebula [ http://www.seds.org…] that fades gradually over thousand of years. M2-9 [ http://adsabs.harva…], a butterfly planetary nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] 2100 light-years [ http://chandra.harv…] away shown in representative colors, has wings that tell a strange but incomplete tale [ http://oposite.stsc…]. In the center, two stars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] orbit inside a gaseous disk 10 times the orbit of Pluto [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The expelled envelope of the dying star breaks out from the disk creating the bipolar appearance [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Much remains unknown about the physical processes that cause planetary nebulae [ http://www.noao.edu…].
Explanation
Are stars better appreciated for their art after they die? Actually, stars usually create their most artistic displays "as" they die. In the case of low-mass stars like our Sun [ http://www.seds.org…] and M2-9 pictured above [ http://oposite.stsc…], the stars transform themselves from normal stars to white dwarfs [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] by casting off their outer gaseous envelopes. The expended gas frequently forms an impressive display called a planetary nebula [ http://www.seds.org…] that fades gradually over thousand of years. M2-9 [ http://adsabs.harva…], a butterfly planetary nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] 2100 light-years [ http://chandra.harv…] away shown in representative colors, has wings that tell a strange but incomplete tale [ http://oposite.stsc…]. In the center, two stars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] orbit inside a gaseous disk 10 times the orbit of Pluto [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The expelled envelope of the dying star breaks out from the disk creating the bipolar appearance [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Much remains unknown about the physical processes that cause planetary nebulae [ http://www.noao.edu…].
Explanation
Credit and Copyright:
B. Balick (U. Washington) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA
Credit_and_Copyright
B. Balick (U. Washington) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA
