Hubble Captures Light Show of Dying Star

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NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured the clearest view yet of the Egg Nebula, a pre-planetary nebula located approximately 1,000 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The Egg Nebula features a central star obscured by a dense cloud of dust, with intricate details that hint at the processes shaping this enigmatic structure as the dying, Sun-like star sheds its outer layers.

Why it matters

The Egg Nebula offers a rare opportunity to test theories of late-stage stellar evolution, as it is the first, youngest, and closest pre-planetary nebula ever discovered. Studying this transitional phase can provide insights into the ejection process as aging stars like our Sun shed their outer layers and release the dust that eventually seeded future star systems.

The details

The symmetrical patterns captured by Hubble suggest the arcs, lobes, and central dust cloud likely stem from a coordinated series of poorly understood sputtering events in the carbon-enriched core of the dying star, rather than a violent explosion. Twin beams from the star illuminate fast-moving polar lobes that pierce a slower, older series of concentric arcs, hinting at gravitational interactions with one or more hidden companion stars.

• The Egg Nebula is still in a brief transitional phase - known as the pre-planetary stage - that lasts only a few thousand years.
• The light from the central star escaped through a polar "eye" in the surrounding dust just a few hundred years ago.