It's the final act for a star in the constellation Cygnus, some 1,000 light-years away. But this star is not dying without one final show, it appears — and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured the last act in astonishing detail.
The Egg Nebula, so-named for its yolk (the star) surrounded by egg white (clouds of dust and gas), is extraordinarily dynamic, with twin beams of light punching through a series of rippling arcs. Whereas most nebulas glow on their own, thanks to the ionization of gas, the light here comes from the dying star itself, emerging through gaps in its dusty shell.
