This image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. This image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope's near-infrared camera, shows streams of material flowing out from two sides of a dying star. Click to enlarge. Here, the Hubble Space Telescope captured the most complex planetary nebula ever seen. About 1000 yrs old, it shows the complexities of a dying star's late evolution.
Scientists speculate that it contains two stars, accounting for complex ga s structures.
Our sun is headed for a rather surprising end, but to understand it we need to look at what happens to stars much larger and smaller than our own. This dazzling but destructive spectacle is what we know as a supernova. A supernova generates such a tremendous blast of energy that if one occurred in our part of the galaxy it could well wipe out all life on Earth. Fortunately, a supernova near us any time soon is unlikely. Small stars consume their fuel very slowly, so slowly that the estimated life span of the smallest stars exceeds the known life span of the universe.