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The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293). This planetary nebula in the constellation Aquarius is one of the nearest to Earth. A planetary nebula is nothing to do with a planet. It's created when a sunlike star is dying and sloughing off its outer layers. Some of them appeared to have a disk like a planet in early telescopes.

Copyright NASA, NOAO, ESA, the Hubble Helix Nebula Team, M. Meixner (STScI), and T.A. Rector (NRAO)

The Robin's Egg Nebula (NGC 1360) is located about 1500 light years away in the constellation Fornax. It's a planetary nebula, formed from a dying star, or in this case, probably a binary system. "Their intense and otherwise invisible ultraviolet radiation has stripped away electrons from the atoms in the surrounding gaseous shroud. The predominant blue-green hue of NGC 1360 seen here is the strong emission produced as electrons recombine with doubly ionized oxygen atoms."

Image Credit & Copyright: Josep Drudis, Don Goldman

Behold! A splendid collection of planetary nebulae. A planetary nebula forms when a sun-sized star is coming to the end of its life and slough off its outer layers. As you can see, planetary nebulae come in all sorts of shapes.

The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is a planetary nebula located three thousand light years away in the constellation Draco (the Dragon).


Image Credit: NASA, ESA, HEIC, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Description: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)

Is this an incredibly beautiful nebula or what? It's called Supernova Remnant HBH 3, which seems a bit mundane for such a splendid sight!

The technical details for those interested:


Image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/JPL