That’s no planet…

VERY LARGE TELESCOPE, 27 SEPTEMBER 2017

The Saturn Nebula is a planetary nebula, even though it has nothing to do with planets, let alone Earth’s most famous ringed companion. Planetary nebulae form when stars of 0.8 to eight solar masses die, their cores collapsing into a white dwarf and their outer layers ejected into a diffuse gas shell, creating a circular shape that looks like a planet. Going by appearances, it’s easy to see how this particular planetary nebula got its name.