The Necklace Nebula shines like jewellery, but it’s just a load of star farts
© NASA
Two stars, bound together in orbital matrimony, are slowly ripping each other apart, and like many relationship squabbles, this stellar spat ends with jewellery. Meet the Necklace Nebula, also known as PN G054.203.4. This planetary nebula is located about 15,000 light years from Earth, inside the Sagitta constellation. To telescopes like Hubble, the nebula looks like an emerald oval ringed with sparkling clusters of jewel-like gas. A binary star forms a bright speck at the centre.