What is a planetary nebula?
Q: What is a planetary nebula?
A: A planetary nebula is a nebula that is made up of gas and plasma, formed by certain types of stars later in their life.
Q: How do planetary nebulae look like?
A: They look like planets through small optical telescopes.
Q: How long do planetary nebulae last?
A: They do not last for long compared to a star, only tens of thousands of years.
Q: What happens at the end of a normal-sized star's life?
A: The outside layers of a star are ejected in the red giant phase.
Q: What causes a planetary nebula to look like it does?
A: The ultraviolet radiation given off by the center of the star ionizes the gas and plasma that was thrown out from the star.
Q: Why can planetary nebulae look different from one another?
A: Scientists are not sure why planetary nebulae can look so different from one another, but binary stars, stellar winds, and magnetic fields might be some of the reasons.
Q: Why did some astronomers begin calling planetary nebulae “globular nebulas”?
A: In the early 21st century some astronomers began calling them “globular nebulas” to avoid confusing them with the Protoplanetary nebulas that make planets.
