Planetary Nebula NGC 7048, the shell of gas left by a dying star. Photo by Ari Heinze

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NGC 7048 is classified as a planetary nebula -- a misleading name referring to the shell of gas expelled by a dying, sunlike star. Stars much more massive than our sun die in violent supernova explosions -- and leave behind a very different-looking cloud of expanding gas.



Date/Time

August 2010

Equipment

20" Obsession Telescope on equatorial platform

Settings

SBIG ST8 CCD

Image processing

Dark subtraction, flatfielding, RGB level adjustment, cropping.