Star’s last hurrah

This image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, shows the colourful “last hurrah” of a star like our sun. Ultraviolet light from the burned-out white dwarf star – the white dot in the centre – makes the surrounding cocoon of gases glow with different colours depending on composition, density and proximity to the hot central star.

Blue is helium, blue-green oxygen, and red nitrogen and hydrogen.