Planetary Nebulae (5 objects)
Go gently into that good night. When a sun-like star's nuclear fuel is exhausted, the core starts to shrink. The gravitational energy thus released heats both the core and the atmosphere even faster than the previously sedate nuclear furnace. The atmosphere is expelled, leaving a naked very hot tiny core (white dwarf). The intense UV from the hot core causes the atmosphere to glow in H-alpha (especially in an outer shell) and O-III (especially near in). Binary companions, strong magnetic fields, and equatorial dust lanes conspire to produce beautiful and convoluted shapes, seen very differently according to our viewing angle.
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Helix nebula showing outer bow shocks in H-alpha. 34 hrs 2x2 binned, in 1 hr subs, plus 4 hrs unbinned for core detail. Field 43 min arc wide (three overlapping panels). Aspen CG16M on 20" PlaneWave. The very faintest bow shocks toward top right have rarely, if ever been photographed before.
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