Astronomy Picture of the Day - M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Planetary Nebula

NASA ^ | 07/24/2016 | (see photo credits)

[ThomasMore]

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2016 July 24

M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula
Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA - Processing: Judy Schmidt

Explanation: Are stars better appreciated for their art after they die? Actually, stars usually create their most artistic displays as they die. In the case of low-mass stars like our Sun and M2-9 pictured above, the stars transform themselves from normal stars to white dwarfs by casting off their outer gaseous envelopes. The expended gas frequently forms an impressive display called a planetary nebula that fades gradually over thousands of years. M2-9, a butterfly planetary nebula 2100 light-years away shown in representative colors, has wings that tell a strange but incomplete tale. In the center, two stars orbit inside a gaseous disk 10 times the orbit of Pluto. The expelled envelope of the dying star breaks out from the disk creating the bipolar appearance. Much remains unknown about the physical processes that cause planetary nebulae.

[ThomasMore]

I love these "planetary" nebula. A really beautiful sight.

[ThomasMore]

APOD PING !!!

If you want on the list or off the list, let me know via mail.

[IC Ken]

Ping from a lurker. Love these.

[UCANSEE2]

Just curious. Why did you post the APOD from 07/24 ?

[TigersEye]

What an amazing object.

[CopperTop]

Beautiful.

But it also looks like some chit ya wouldn't wanna be near. d;^)

Thanks for posting.

[Boogieman]

This isn’t caused by the star dying and blowing off outer layers. This is a plasma z-pinch phenomenon as can be demonstrated by the visible double-layers that can’t be explained by a simple ejection.

All stars have plasma “halos” like this, they are just not normally visible. This one is visible because the current passing through the plasma envelope is sufficient to cause it to enter plasma’s “glow” phase, the same phenomenon that allows fluorescent light bulbs to work.

[misanthrope]

Electric Universe bump.
Swordmaker?!

[Swordmaker]

This is not what the gravity driven astronomers and cosmologists claim it is in their explanation. It is what the Electric Universe cosmologists claim it is, an huge plasma Z pinch which is easily replicable in a plasma laboratory. It is a classic electromagnetic bottle shape and the plasmoids are easily seen, as are the double layers and farther out the filamentary structures. Gravity cosmologists cannot show any means in which gravity can create such a structure much less maintain it, while electromagnetism accounts for it and even predicts its shape mathematically. In the Electric Universe cosmology, it is not an "old" star, but rather a young star in the process of formation by the process of the "Z" pinch forces. PING!

If you want on or off the Electric Universe Ping List, Freepmail me.

[Swordmaker]

Electric Universe bump.

Thanks for the heads up.

[disndat]

That is really cool! (where is sunkenciv)

[TheOldLady]

PINGIE!

It’s the APOD, but not by SunkenCiv, sadly.

[ThomasMore]

From what I understand, SunkenCiv hasn’t been around since... see...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3456330/posts

[disndat]

He has been located.

[TheOldLady]

Excellent! Thank you, disndat.

[tet68]

Just another example of “White Dwarf Privilege”.