White Dwarfs and Planetary Nebulae - Stellar Afterlife Explore the fate of low to medium mass stars as they end their life cycles, shedding their outer layers to form beautiful planetary nebulae
Low to medium mass stars end their life cycles by shedding their outer layers, creating stunning planetary nebulae.
Despite their name, planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets; the term was coined due to their planet-like appearance in small telescopes.
Planetary nebulae are known for their vibrant colors, caused by ionized gases emitting light at various wavelengths.
Colorful Clouds
At the center of a planetary nebula lies a white dwarf, the dense core remnant of the original star.
White dwarfs are incredibly dense, packing a sun-like mass into a volume comparable to Earth.
Over billions of years, white dwarfs cool and fade as they no longer undergo nuclear fusion.
Once the outer layers are shed, the core stops fusing hydrogen and helium, leading to the formation of a white dwarf.
White dwarfs can exist for billions of years, slowly radiating away their remaining heat.
The material ejected from planetary nebulae enriches the interstellar medium, contributing to the formation of new stars and planets.
The closest known white dwarf is Sirius B, part of the Sirius binary system, and one of the first to be discovered.