Spectacular display of the end of a red giant star

July 14 () –

The glowing nebula IC 2220, nicknamed the Toby Jug Nebula due to its resemblance to an ancient English ceramic drinking jug, It is a rare astronomical find.

This reflection nebula, located about 1,200 light-years away toward the constellation Carina (the keel), is a two-lobed, or bipolar, cloud of gas and dust. created and illuminated by the red giant star at its center.

This phase of the end of life of red giant stars is relatively brief, and the celestial structures that form around them are rare, making the Toby Jug Nebula in an excellent case study in stellar evolution.

This image, captured by the Gemini South Telescope, one half of the Gemini International Observatory, operated by NOIRLab, shows the magnificent, nearly symmetrical double-loop structure of the Toby Jug Nebula and bright stellar heart. These features are unique to red giants transitioning from aging stars to planetary nebulae and thus offer astronomers valuable insight into the evolution of low- to intermediate-mass stars nearing the end of their lives, as well as of the cosmic structures that form, reports NOIRLab.

At the heart of the Toby Jug Nebula is its parent, the red giant star HR3126. Red giants form when a star burns up the supply of hydrogen in its core. Without the outside force of fusion, the star begins to contract. This raises the core temperature and causes the star to swell up to 400 times its original size.

Although HR3126 is considerably younger than our sun, a mere 50 million years compared to the sun’s 4.6 billion years, it is five times as massive. This allowed the star to burn up its supply of hydrogen and become a red giant much faster than the sun.

As HR 3126 swelled, its atmosphere expanded and it began to shed its outer layers. The ejected stellar material flowed into the surrounding area, forming a magnificent structure of gas and dust that reflects light from the central star. Detailed studies of the Toby Jug Nebula in infrared light have revealed that silicon dioxide (silica) it is the most likely light-reflecting compound of HR3126.

Astronomers theorize that bipolar structures similar to those seen in the Toby Jug Nebula they are the result of interactions between the central red giant and a binary companion star. However, previous observations found no such partner for HR3126. Instead, the astronomers observed an extremely compact disk of material around the central star. This finding suggests that an ancient companion binary was possibly shredded to disk, which may have triggered the formation of the surrounding nebula.

In about five billion years, when our sun has used up its supply of hydrogen, it too will become a red giant and eventually become a planetary nebula. In the very distant future, all that will remain of our Solar System it will be a nebula as vibrant as the Toby Jug Nebula with the sun slowly cooling at its heart.