- 3229 - PLANETARY NEBULAE - from Sun to Planetary Nebula? The complexity of the structures of planetary nebulae have given astronomers much frustration. These nebulae come in all shapes and sizes. Many are not symmetrical. Only 10% of the nebulae are bipolar.
------- 3229 - PLANETARY NEBULAE - from Sun to Planetary Nebula
- We love our Sun. But, it too will die. When all of its hydrogen fuel is exhausted it will expand into a “Planetary Nebula” leaving behind a lifeless “White Dwarf‘. Our Sun is about 5,000,000,000 years old and it is middle aged, it is expected to live another 5,000,000,000 years before this happens. But, it will eventually happen.
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- We have plenty of examples for astronomers to study in the night sky to tell us what it will look like.
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- If you were a distant astronomer viewing our Sun it would no longer be a bright star. Instead you would see a colorful expanding cloud of gas. It would be called a Planetary Nebula like the many others astronomers have observed.
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- Here are some you can Google:
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------------------ Helix Nebula , NGC 7213, in Aquarius, 650 lightyears away.
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------------------ Ant Nebula, M3, in the Constellation Norma , 3,000 lightyears away
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------------------ Rotten Egg Nebula, OH231.8_4.2
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----------------- Retina Nebula, IC4406
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- The end of life for a star the size of our Sun is the Red Giant phase. The Sun’s core finally dies and becomes a lump of carbon. It is 6,000 miles in diameter and half the original mass of the Sun. The carbon core is like a lump of charcoal that cools like an amber in the barbeque.
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- Gravity tends to compress the ember like an onion. Some hydrogen and helium form a shell burning at the surface. The luminosity of the Sun becomes 30 times brighter. At its most luminous stage it will be 150 times larger and 2,100 times brighter.
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- Spasmodic fits of fusion will fling the outer layers into space. The gas bubbles flow outward at 36,000 miles per hour.
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- It will take about 1000 years through this phase for the new planetary nebula to become visible. When the core reaches 30,000 Kelvin exiting ultraviolet photons start to strip electrons away from neutral atoms in the expanding gas. This ionizes the gas and the planetary nebula begins to shine.
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- At this point gas is exiting at 350,000 miles per hour. The gas become heated to millions of degrees generating X-ray emissions.
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- The complexity of the structures of planetary nebulae have given astronomers much frustration. These nebulae come in all shapes and sizes. Many are not symmetrical. Only 10% of the nebulae are bipolar.
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- It may be that the gravity of companion stars are creating these odd shapes. It may be the merger of orbiting stars that is occurring. It may be intense magnetic fields that influence the out flow of ionized gas.
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- Regardless of what is causing it the beauty and symmetry of planetary nebulae are among the best in astronomical imaging. Do a Google search on these objects to fire up your imagination.
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- Realize that our beloved Solar System will one day look like one of these.
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- July 24, 2021 PLANETARY NEBULAE - from Sun to Nebulae 1018 3229
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--------------------- --- Saturday, July 24, 2021 ---------------------------
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