Planetary Nebulae

Examples of Planetary Nebulae

This is Eta Carinae. It is my favorite planetary nebulae. It is a key example of the Ball-of-Light Particle Model. Be sure to see the information dedicated to this spectacular planetary nebulae! There is additional information on how bipolar planetary nebulae form.

This is the Hourglass Nebula. It has a similar shape to Eta Carinae. The arrow in the above image points to the central star. An enlargement of the this area is shown below. This part of the nebulae has been referred to as, "the Eye of God."

This is an image of the central core of the Hourglass Nebula -- sometimes referred to as the "Eye of God." There are many possible explanations for describing this structure. The Ball-of-Light Particle Model describes what is happening like this:

• The central star is indicated by the arrow "B"
• The core of this star is a ball-of-light
• The star is either: being closely orbited by another ball-of-light -- indicated by "C"; or was orbited by an object such as a planet or star and "C" was recently ejected from the core.
• Due to the precessing orbit-like rings of material evident in the area indicated by "A," it is more likely that "C" is orbiting "B."
• The orbiting ball-of-light is inducing massive electromagnetic waves on the core of the central star.
• These waves induce particles off the core
• These ejected balls-of-light have a variety of harmonics. (Some examples of typical harmonics are displayed in the graphic below.)

• Some of the ejected balls-of-light are very harmonic -- i.e., electrons, protons, and alpha particles
• Some of the ejected balls-of-light are not harmonic and decay almost immediately
• The variety of colors of light from the central region of this nebulae are a result of the different energy levels of the different decaying balls-of-light
• The dark cone of material immediately to the right of the central star is the most recent ejected material
• The ejected plasma and balls-of-light have stripped the core star of its surrounding plasma. (The Ball-of-Light Particle Model predicts the central star should have characteristics similar to a white dwarf.)
• The ejected material is formed by the electromagnetic fields on the core. The dumbbell shape results from spherical harmonics.

This is the Cat's Eye Nebula. This planetary nebulae was most likely caused by a large object such as a planet or comet rapidly spiraling into the central star. Note the different colors in the spiral structures. The balls-of-light that were ejected from the core of the star that eventually created these spirals are decaying more rapidly at this stage as the motion relative to the core slows. (See also, Zones of Instability in Galaxy Formation.) For more information on the Cat's Eye Nebulae, see Ansae.

These 3 Nebulae have particularly beautiful structure. The structure is the key. The Ball-of-Light Particle Model predicts that the cores of stars are balls-of-light. When they decay, the massive electromagnetic fields on the cores create the structure of planetary nebulae. Traditional astrophysical theory has very little control over "structure." There is very little there to "mold" these shapes. The Ball-of-Light Particle Model explicitly has total control over these shapes. They are simply variations of spherical harmonics. The shapes of planetary nebulae result primarily from the electric and magnetic fields on the core of the star -- partly from the gravitational field within the core of the star.

Other Planetary Nebulae

IRAS 17150-3224

IRAS 17441-2411

NGC 7027

In this image of NGC 7027 note how the two lobes are forming.

In these images of NGC 7027 a trail of dust is evident around the waist of the forming lobes. It is likely this is a dust trail left by an orbiting object such as a star. (See also, Where's the Dust?)

The Sting Ray Planetary Nebulae

Note the central star. The upper arrow indicates a possible orbiting object that is inducing the waves in the central core. (It is possible that this object is an ejected ansae.)

X-Rays from Planetary Nebulae

Scientists have theorized that the expanding shell of a Planetary nebulae is formed as ejected material from the star impacts older material ejected by a strong stellar wind. If this was true, then X-rays should be found from the edge of the expanding shell. This is not the case.

Gail M. Conway, You-Hua Chu (University of Illinois) and Thomas H. Chang (University of Texas) have performed detailed analysis of X-rays from the nebulae of Planetary Nebulae. They discovered that X-rays were greatest near the central stars. They also detected numerous clumps and streaks of X-rays.

The Ball-of-Light Particle Model predicts these clumps of X-rays are produced by relatively large -- larger than elementary particles -- decaying balls-of-light.