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My best so far:
M27 (the Dumbbell nebula) is a planetary nebula in the
constellation Vulpecula (the Fox). Despite its description,
a planetary nebula has nothing to do with planets. It's the
remnant of a star much like our Sun. As a Sun-like star
ages, it goes through a red giant phase, then when it runs out of fuel,
it expels its outer atmosphere. You are then
left with a "white dwarf" star surround by clouds of oxygen, nitrogen
and other gases. If you look in the center of
the nebula above, you can see what's left of the star that created it!
Image Note: this picture was taken from under the
city lights of
Houston, TX.
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