Ghost of Jupiter NGC 3242
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The Ghost of Jupiter is a planetary nebula consisting of a small dense inner shell, surrounded by a larger fainter envelope. It is located in the southern constellation Hydra at a distance of approximately 1400 ly.
The outer shell gave rise to its popular name, as it is of about the apparent size of Jupiter in the sky. The central star is a dense white dwarf, the tiny remnant of the original star which have ejected the nebula at the end of its life. Our Sun will share a similar fate some 5 billion years from now. | |||||||||||||||
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