I’ve always thought people write because they are not living properly.
– Tom Stoppard

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Methuselah Nebula MWP1

Credit & Copyright:

Don Goldman

Explanation:

The lovely, symmetric planetary nebula
cataloged as MWP1 lies some
4,500 light-years away in the northern constellation
Cygnus the Swan.

One of the largest
planetary nebulae
known, it spans about 15
light-years.

Based on its expansion rate
the nebula has an age of 150 thousand years,
a cosmic blink of an eye
in the 10 billion year life of a sun-like star.

But planetary nebulae represent a very brief final phase in
in stellar
evolution, as the nebula’s central star shrugs off
its outer layers to become a hot white dwarf.

In fact, planetary nebulae ordinarily only last
for 10 to 20 thousand years.

As a result, truly
ancient MWP1
offers a beautiful
challenge to astronomers studying the evolution of its central star.