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Glowing in the constellation Aquila, the planetary nebula NGC 6751 is a cloud of gas ejected several thousand years ago from the hot star visible in its center. Planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets. They are shells of gas thrown off by Sun-like stars nearing the ends of their lives. The star's loss of its outer, gaseous layers exposes the hot stellar core, whose strong ultraviolet radiation then causes the ejected gas to fluoresce as the planetary nebula.

Photographs and astronomical descriptions courtesy of NASA and AURA/STScI

Tales of the Immortal Night ©2003, J.J. Kuhl

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