M 76 – Little Dumbbell Nebula

Description:

The Little Dumbbell Nebula (M76) in the constellation Perseus. It is categorized as a bipolar nebula, and the bright central bar is actually a ring of gas seen edge-on. This ring was ejected when the central star was a red giant. Shortly afterward, it imploded and became a white dwarf (seen right in the middle of the nebula), ejecting the rest of its gas in the form of two lobes on either side of the central ring. This is probably the fate that awaits our sun in several billion years.