M2-9, The Butterfly Planetary Nebula

As M2-9 slowly dies over the course of 1000 years, it castes off gasses while transforming from an Ordinary Star to a Butterfly Planetary Nebula to a White Dwarf Star. This planetary nebula used to be an ordinary star, alike to our sun. As it makes it's transition to a white dwarf it must first expel it's outer gaseous envelope (the layer of atmosphere or gasses surrounding an object). M2-9 became a planetary nebula (a ring-shaped nebula formed by an expanding shell of gas around an aging star) during the process of expelling it's gasses. It is currently 2100 light years away and it's wings (the outer edges of the mass) puzzle astronomers as they work to determine how this star went through it's transition.

The Evaporating Protostar



The Evaporating Protostar

 Astronomers have discovered that IRAS 20324+4057, an interstellar-cloud about 4,500 light years away and spanning 1 light year in distance, is slowly forming into a new star. The fate of this star cannot be determined at the moment because the gas an dust is being eroded decreasing the stars mass and thus making it uncertain if the cloud will form into a star. If the mass whittles down enough to make the star comprable to the sun, it is very possible that the star will house planets in the future in the form of a planetary nebula. If this is to happen, the process will take roughly 100,00 years to take its full form. 

The Case of the Missing Supernova



The Case of the Missing Supernova Companion

In most cases of supernovas, there are two partner stars which interact. This photo shows an image of a star going through supernova but strangely enough, there is no appearence of a companion star. In the cases of supernovas there are two stars orbiting one another because of gravitational pull. There is always a white dwarf (the remmenant of a star which is near the end of its life and is no longer capable of fusion reactions but can release a great deal of energy is the temp. rises high enough). The other star can be anything from a red giant to another white dwarf star. Scientist are pursuing this supernova in order to either identify its companion star or understand why it lacks one.