Filling a Jug

A dying star has created its own death shroud--streamers of gas and dust that form the shape of an old English jug. The star is a red giant. Changes in its core have caused the star to expand and to begin expelling its outer layers into space. They've been sculped into streamers and filaments, perhaps with the help of a one-time companion that was consumed by the expanding giant. Dust grains in the nebula reflect the light of the dying star, known as IC 2220. Eventually, the nebula will vanish and all that will remain of the star will be its hot, dead core, known as a white dwarf. The star is about 1,200 light-years away, in the southern constellation Carina, the keel.c [International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/AURA/NSF]