NGC 3242, the Ghost of Jupiter, glows brightly in this Hubble Space Telescope image. The nebula is the last remnant of a dying star, which has expelled its outer layers of gas into space. In a few thousand years the nebula will dissipate, leaving only the star’s hot, dead core, known as a white dwarf. The nebula is named for its resemblance to the planet Jupiter when viewed through a small telescope. The image colors represent the glow of different chemical elements. [NASA/ESA/Bruce Balack and Jason Alexander (Univ. Washington), et al.]
Find out more in our radio program entitled Ghost of Jupiter.