NGC 5882: A Small Planetary Nebula

COLLECTION NAME:

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection

mediaCollectionId

NVA2~4~4

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection

Collection

true

Title:

NGC 5882: A Small Planetary Nebula

title

NGC 5882: A Small Planetary Nebula

Title

false

Explanation:

Will most stars one day look like this? Pictured above is the planetary nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] NGC 5882, captured [ http://scivax.stsci… ] by the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ]. Although planetary nebulae [ http://zebu.uoregon… ] can appear similar to planets like Uranus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] and Neptune [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ], they are actually gas [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] clouds surrounding stars typically hundreds of light years away. Planetary nebula [ http://home.cc.uman… ] form when a typical star [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] completes fusion [ http://fusedweb.ppp… ] in its core and ejects an outer envelope of gas - usually about 10 percent of the star's initial mass. This gas shell dims in about 50,000 years - short compared to the lifetimes of stars [ http://xalph.ast.ca… ]. Therefore, although only about 1000 planetary nebula [ http://wonka.physic… ] are known in our Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ], it is thought that most stars go through this phase. Green light is emitted when oxygen [ http://web.cetlink.… ] ions acquire electrons from the surrounding gas.

explanation

Will most stars one day look like this? Pictured above is the planetary nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/planetary.html ] NGC 5882, captured [ http://scivax.stsci.edu/~hamilton/nuggets/HST_NUGGETS.HTML ] by the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950810.html ]. Although planetary nebulae [ http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~imamura/208/feb22/feb22.html ] can appear similar to planets like Uranus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950816.html ] and Neptune [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950817.html ], they are actually gas [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#hydrogen ] clouds surrounding stars typically hundreds of light years away. Planetary nebula [ http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~umbole/pneb.html ] form when a typical star [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#star ] completes fusion [ http://fusedweb.pppl.gov/default.html ] in its core and ejects an outer envelope of gas - usually about 10 percent of the star's initial mass. This gas shell dims in about 50,000 years - short compared to the lifetimes of stars [ http://xalph.ast.cam.ac.uk/public/niel/scales.html ]. Therefore, although only about 1000 planetary nebula [ http://wonka.physics.ncsu.edu/www/Astro/Research/Plneb/ ] are known in our Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960213.html ], it is thought that most stars go through this phase. Green light is emitted when oxygen [ http://web.cetlink.net/~yinon/o.html ] ions acquire electrons from the surrounding gas.

Explanation

false

Credit and Copyright:

H. Bond, HST, STSci [ http://www.stsci.ed… ], NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/ ]

credit_and_copyright

H. Bond, HST, STSci [ http://www.stsci.edu/public.html ], NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/ ]

Credit and Copyright

false

facet_where:

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

facet_where

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

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false

facet_what:

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

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Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

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false

original url:

http://antwrp.gsfc.…

original_url

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960828.html

original url

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UID:

SPD-APOD-ap960828

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SPD-APOD-ap960828

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false

MEDIA INFORMATION

NGC 5882: A Small Planetary Nebula