They were dubbed by the 18th-century astronomer William Herschel, who thought their generally circular shape looked similar to planets as seen through a telescope. But although these objects are some of the most beautiful in the universe, scientists still do not know how exactly planetary nebula form. As such, astronomers are extremely interested in Hubble s new pictures, as they are aiding in the discovery of these objects shape and inner workings. The Spirograph Nebula, in particular, provides astronomers with an interesting case study. But we really don t have a good way of explaining them yet.
People have a lot of ideas, but nobody really knows what s correct.
We ve been really sort of scratching our heads. The young protoplanetary nebula CRL 618 is also a bit of an enigma to astronomers because it represents the mysterious transition between a star s red giant phase and its planetary nebula phase. Hubble s latest CRL 618 image shows that it is a complex of gaseous jet-like protrusions emanating from a central core. Astronomers predict CRL 618 will become a fully developed planetary nebula within the next several thousand years. Currently, however, the eventual shape and symmetry of this nebula is unknown.