A planetary nebula 1400 light years distant in the constellation of Vulpecula. A “planetary nebula” has nothing to do with planets! It is the outer shell of a star in the final stages of its life. The star has exhausted the hydrogen fuel in its core, collapsed inward, and the outer layers of the star are puffed off in a sphere. We see this sphere of expanding gas as a circle. The originating star, now a small, dense star called a white dwarf, is visible at the centre of the glowing gas.