The nebula NGC 5189 is beautiful – but what exactly is it? This is a planetary nebula, which doesn’t actually have anything to do with planets. Astronomers saw this type of nebula in earlier telescopes and found many indistinct, cloudy forms. They called such objects “nebulae” – Latin for clouds. Some of the fuzzy objects resembled planets, and these earned the name planetary nebulae. Planetary nebulae like the one in this Reel represent the final stage in a medium-sized star’s life. While consu

Geometry of the Blue Ring Nebula (Animation)

Hubble's Inside the Image: Crab Nebula