Is Earth getting you down these days? Then take a break and look to the stars for a while.

A pair of newly released images from the Hubble Space Telescope afford us Earthlings impressive views of two distant celestial bodies. They’re both shots of planetary nebulae, and each is brimming with otherworldly color and light.

Don’t be fooled by the name. “Planetary nebulae” are just like any other nebula: a region of dust and gas that serves as a breeding ground for new stars. The “planetary” in the name that identifies these two (among others) dates back to their discovery by early astronomers, who named them for their round shape. Read more…

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