A Fond Farewell — A Star Says Goodbye | Space Wallpaper

By Space.com Staff
published

A Fond Farewell — A Star Says Goodbye
Menzel 2, a planetary nebula, arrives at its final stages of life as a white dwarf. (Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA)

Planetary nebula PK 329-02.2 in the Norma constellation in the southern sky, also known as Menzel 2, has spent an innumerable number of years as a winding blue cloud. Nearing the end of its life, the nebula has shed its outer layer and the cloud is dissipating, and Mz 2 is becoming a white dwarf. [See more planetary nebulae.]

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Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.