Nebulae are the nurseries of the universe. They give birth to stars, but are often created when a star dies. Cascading throughout space, nebulae are essentially enormous clouds of dust and gas composed of the basic elements of the universe, like hydrogen. It’s interactions between these elements that provide the building blocks for stars, and it’s also the reason for the varied and spectacular shapes and sizes of nebulae. The explosive shape of the Crab Nebula, around 6,500 light years away, was created as the result of a star’s supernova event, evicting masses of material in a cosmic eruption. Eventually the material that makes up the Crab Nebula will seed new stars.
The existence of nebulae has been recorded for well over 1,000 years, but it was French astronomer Charles Messier who was the first person to discover a planetary nebula in 1764 – the Dumbbell Nebula – going on to compile a catalogue of nebulae. Strangely enough, the name for planetary nebulae comes from their mistaken identity as planets – but it seems to have stuck.