Gaze into the Snow Globe: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher

NGC 6781 is a planetary nebula in Aquila sometimes called the Snow Globe Nebula. Through a telescope, try using a nebula or OIII filter to bring out the ring. Credit: Eric Coles/Bob Fera

Key Takeaways:

The Snow Globe Nebula is a planetary nebula 1,500 light-years away.
Its transparent ring resembles a snow globe with starlight "snowflakes".
It's formed from a dying star shedding its outer layers.
It shows what our Sun will become in the distant future.

The Snow Globe Nebula (NGC 6781) is a unique planetary nebula lying 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Aquila. The object gets its name because the interior of the ring is partially transparent, allowing points of starlight to come through, appearing like snowflakes suspended in a snow globe.

In addition to being a great deep-sky object, it’s also a preview of what our own solar system will one day be: Planetary nebulae are formed when stars like the Sun reach the end of their lives and become unstable, shaking off their outer layers of gas on their way to becoming a white dwarf.