How was the planetary nebulae formed?
A planetary nebula is created when a star blows off its outer layers after it has run out of fuel to burn. These outer layers of gas expand into space, forming a nebula which is often the shape of a ring or bubble.
What is planetary nebula quizlet?
A planetary nebula is the ejected shell of an evolved giant star. It is the shape of a spherical shell and is composed of relatively cool thing gas, which was once the outer part of the star. A planetary nebula is associated with the death of a low mass star.
Which type of star will form a planetary nebula?
white dwarf
Smaller stars like our sun end their lives by ejecting their outer layers of gas into space over the course of about 10,000 years, leaving behind the star’s hot core — a white dwarf. Radiation from the white dwarf causes the gas to glow, creating a unique and beautiful formation called a planetary nebula.
What is a planetary nebula quizlet mastering astronomy?
A planetary nebula is the disk of matter around a star that will eventually form a planetary system. It takes less and less time to fuse heavier and heavier elements inside a high-mass star.
How does a planetary nebula form quizlet?
A planetary nebula is formed when a red giant ejects its outer atmosphere. The beautiful images show that a planetary nebula is a stage in the evolution of a low mass star. They last tens of thousands of years. A white dwarf is the carbon core of a red giant that has ejected its photosphere as a planetary nebula.
What does a planetary nebula surround?
A bright, colorful shell of gas and dust surrounding a star in the last stages of life. A planetary nebula is created when the star puffs off its outer atmosphere. The nebula usually looks like a doughnut, sometimes with the small, hot, rapidly evolving star visible in the center.
Why is a planetary nebula important?
Planetary nebulae are important objects in astronomy because they play a crucial role in the chemical evolution of the galaxy, returning material to the interstellar medium which has been enriched in heavy elements and other products of nucleosynthesis (such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and calcium).
What is a planetary nebula stage?
The planetary nebula phase is a final stage in a low-mass star’s life. During this phase, the star sheds its outer layers. This creates an expanding, glowing shell of very hot gas. Low-mass stars turn into planetary nebulae towards the end of their red giant phase.
Do planetary nebulae form planets?
In about 5 billion years, when the sun shucks off its outer layers, it will create a beautiful shell of diffuse gas known as a planetary nebula. The term “planetary nebula” is a misnomer. …
How do stars interact with emission nebulae?
The two primary components to an emission nebula are a cloud of hydrogen gas and one or more hot O- or B-type stars. The hot stars emit ultraviolet radiation, which heats the hydrogen gas to the point where electrons are ejected from the hydrogen atoms, thus ionizing the gas.
How can a planetary nebula be identified?
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian scientists study planetary nebulas in several different ways: Identifying the atoms and molecules within planetary nebulas, mostly through the infrared light they emit and absorb. Infrared light can pierce through clouds of gas and dust, which are opaque to visible light.