Some 2,000 light-years from Earth, an elderly star has ejected its puffy outer layers to form a luminous, jewel-like ball of gas. Set aglow by ultraviolet radiation pouring out from the core of the aging star, this gaseous nebula—called IC 418—resembles a “spirograph,” the pattern produced by the familiar drawing toy. The Hubble Space Telescope took pictures of the nebula last year, and NASA released the images on Sept.
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