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Loading contentAt the end of the asymptotic giant branch a dying star sheds its outer layers into space, exposing the hot stellar core beneath. The core's ultraviolet light lights up the expanding shell as a glowing planetary nebula — a name from the eighteenth century that has nothing to do with planets — before it fades to a white dwarf.
Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
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