Dying stars are among the most beautiful objects in the universe. They create colorful bubbles that can glow for thousands of years. And depending on our viewing angle, they can look like a butterfly, a cat’s eye, an hourglass, or other fanciful forms.

An example is NGC 3242. It’s known as the Eye Nebula, or the Ghost of Jupiter Nebula for its resemblance to the giant planet. In fact, because they look like planets, such objects are known as planetary nebulas.

They form when a Sun-like star reaches the end of its life. The star no longer produces nuclear reactions in its core, so the core collapses and becomes extremely hot. The radiation pushes away the surrounding layers of gas. They flow out into space, forming a nebula.

In the Ghost of Jupiter, the nebula consists of several shells of gas. They were expelled at different times, and they’re moving at different speeds. When a faster shell overtakes a slower one, the material heats up and emits X-rays. Over time, the nebula spreads out and cools, so it fades away.

The star at the center of the Ghost of Jupiter is hundreds or thousands of times brighter than the Sun. Soon, though, it will fade as well, becoming a hot but faint corpse – a white dwarf.

The Ghost of Jupiter is in Hydra, the water snake. The nebula climbs into view, in the southeast, by about 9 o’clock. Under dark skies, it’s just visible through binoculars, and an easy target for telescopes.

Script by Damond Benningfield