I have always disliked goodbyes, whether it be a TV show or movie, a friend who is going away, or even this star in the last moments of its life, the thought of not seeing someone or something again makes me feel a flurry of emotions, from sadness and pain to hope.
On Tuesday, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) released a new image of a star called ESO 577-24. Once a red giant, it is now an extremely hot dwarf star surrounded by a planetary nebula — a stunning cloud of glowing gas that will slowly expand and grow dimmer as the star dies.
(Image credit: ESO)