Planetary Nebulae - Stars reflecting on their past
Start On:
Fri, 03/02/2012 - 19:30
Location:
In the last 1700s William Herscehel was searching for the Planet Uranus.
He found a group of objects that looked like a Planet, but did not move like a Planet.
He christened them Planetary Nebulae.
Since then astronomers using better Telescopes have found that they are in fact Sun-like stars nearing the end of their lives.
Dr Albert Zylstra is a UK expert in this field and we are very lucky for him to be able to come and give an insight into his research.
If you want to see what a PN looks like just browse this website:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/nebula/planetary/
Note by Jon...
"Or see Gains' excellent picture of M57 (The Ring Nebula) in our gallery here"
| Attachment | Size |
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| Dr_Albert_Zylstra.pdf | 196.15 KB |
Comments
Star reflecting on their past
Wow what a presentation.
Informative and humorous too.
I think the large audience at this talk learnt quite a few new things about PNs - I certainly did.
Some of the most 'beautiful' objects in the night sky and with some of the most unsual though apt names, such as the 'Bug nebula and the 'Spirograph Nebula' [my personal favourite!.
Dr Zysltra covered:
1) Their shape and how they form in the shape they are
2) How they change over short [<100 years] and longer [>100,00 years] in time
3) What they are made of
4) What type of stars make them - essentially Sun-like stars that are growing 'old'.
and a whole lot more
Hope you all enjoyed it and, if so please post a comment
President HAPS