Requiem for a Star: Hubble Telescope Captures Image of a Dying Star

The European Space Agency has obtained images of a planetary nebula formed by a dying star thousands of light years away.

“Stars of different masses end their lives in different ways. While truly massive stars go out in a blaze of glory, intermediate-mass stars — those between roughly one and eight times the mass of the Sun — are somewhat quieter, forming cosmic objects known as planetary nebulas,” the ESA said in a statement Monday.

Probing a glowing bubble of gas and dust encircling a dying star, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope caught sight of NGC 2371 — a planetary nebula, the glowing remains of a dying star. It is slowly cooling after energetically shedding most of its gas.

NGC 2371 lies about 4,300 light —years away in the constellation Gemini.

The remnant star visible at the center of NGC 2371 is the super-hot core of the former red giant, now stripped of its outer layers. Its surface temperature is a scorching 240,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

NGC 2371 lies about 4,300 light —years away in the constellation Gemini.

“The remnant star visible at the center of NGC 2371 was once similar to the Sun, but is now only a shadow of its former self,” the ESA statement said.