| What happens when a star runs out of
nuclear fuel?
For stars about the mass of our Sun, the center condenses into a
white dwarf
while the outer atmospheric layers are
expelled into space and appear as a
planetary nebula.
This particular
planetary nebula,
pictured above and designated
Shapley 1 after the famous astronomer
Harlow Shapley, has a very apparent annular ring like structure.
Although some of
these nebulas
appear like planets on the sky
(hence their name), they actually surround stars far outside
our Solar System.
Credit:
ESO
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