How Sun-Like Stars Say Goodbye

Students learn that planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets: they are glowing shells of gas shed by dying Sun-like stars, which leave white dwarfs behind, and they connect this to the Sun's future in about five billion years and to the carbon in their own bodies.

Grades 5-8About 15 minutes of narrated flight, plus discussion stops8 stops

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What students will see and do

Students start at the Sun, visit Uranus to hear how William Herschel named planetary nebulae, then fly to the Dumbbell, Ring, Helix, and Cat's Eye Nebulae before returning to the Sun and Earth. Aetherion pauses three times: at Uranus (names that stick after we learn more), at the Helix Nebula (why short-lived nebulae are still common), and at Earth (being made of material from old stars).

Learning objectives

• Explain why planetary nebulae were given that name and why it is misleading.
• Describe the stages of a Sun-like star's death: red giant, shedding layers, and white dwarf.
• Compare the shapes and colors of several planetary nebulae and what causes them.
• Predict what will happen to the Sun in about five billion years.

NGSS connections

Stops on this journey

1. A Star in Its Prime
2. A Name That Stuck (discussion stop)
3. The First One Found
4. The Ring in Lyra
5. The Nearby Helix (discussion stop)
6. The Cat's Eye
7. The Sun's Far Future
8. Stardust in You (discussion stop)

Vocabulary

• planetary nebula
• red giant
• white dwarf
• ultraviolet light
• element
• core
• nebula