The name is misleading: In the late 19th century, astronomers spotted objects that appeared in their telescopes to glow somewhat like Jupiter and the other gas giant planets. They dubbed them planetary nebulae but they bear no resemblance to planets nor do they necessarily generate them.

Scientists said the bubble of gas surrounding NGC 7027 is 3 million degrees Celsius. The nebula, which researchers say is the remains of a Sun-like star, spans a region of space some 100 times larger than our solar system.

The image is brighter to the upper right -- the side of the nebula nearest the Earth -- where there is less material that otherwise blocks X-ray emissions.

The Chandra observation suggests there are relatively significant amounts of helium, carbon, nitrogen, magnesium and silicon in NGC 7027. This is consistent with theories that predict that planetary nebulae seed interstellar space with "heavy" elements, those heavier than hydrogen and helium.

Scientists believe that the earliest stars were not built from these heavy elements. Instead, heavy elements were produced by nuclear reactions during the evolution of the star. Only as stars explode, and new stars are born from the remains, do the heavier elements become building blocks for stars.

The observations were made June 1 by a team of scientists led by Joel Kastner of the Rochester Institute of Technology.

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