What happens when a star runs out of nuclear fuel ? For stars like our Sun , the center condenses into a white dwarf while the outer atmosphere is expelled into space to appear as a planetary nebula . The expelled outer atmosphere of planetary nebula NGC 1514 appears to be a jumble of bubbles -- when seen in visible light . But the view from the James Webb Space Telescope in infrared , as featured here , confirms a different story: in this light the nebula shows a distinct hourglass shape , which is interpreted as a cylinder seen along a diagonal. If you look closely at the center of the nebula, you can also see a bright central star that is part of a binary system . More observations might better reveal how this nebula is evolving and how the central stars are working together to produce the interesting cylinder and bubbles observed.
Jump Around the Universe: Random APOD Generator
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Image Credit: NASA , ESA , CSA , M. E. Ressler ( JPL ) et al.; Processing: Judy Schmidt