Astronomy on Tap Flagstaff | Planetary Nebulae: Existence and Uniqueness

Join Lowell Observatory and Mother Road Brewing Co. on March 24th at 6:30pm for Astronomy on Tap! Listen to fascinating science talks, play trivia to win out-of-this-world prizes, and of course, enjoy Mother Road brews on tap. Come early, Seats fill up fast!

This month’s speaker is Louis Maez who is a Telescope Specialist at Lowell Observatory Telescope Specialist. Louis will be talking about Planetary Nebulae. To the early observational astronomers, Planetary Nebulae looked like faded, blue planets. Even as hundreds more nebulae were discovered, their origin and nature remained unclear. Modern studies reveal planetary nebulae to be the remnants of small stars that have exhausted their fuel supplies and ‘fizzled out’. How do these nebulae form, and what gives them their colors and shapes? How do complex, small structures arise within the nebula? Is every planetary nebula unique?