Astro-image of the day: death of a Sun-like star

[mckitterick]

The star in the image below is in the process of dying, casting off its outer layers to create this dramatic nebulosity (NGC 2440). The burned-out star has dropped out of the Main Sequence of star types and is now a white dwarf, the white dot in the center. This is the same fate that awaits the Sun in about five billion years.

Click the image to see the story.

Best,
Chris