Chandra & HST Images of Mz 3 (Ant Nebula)
Planetary nebulas — so called because some of them resemble a planet when viewed through a small telescope — are produced in the late stages of a sun-like star's life. This image shows Chandra's view of Menzel 3 (Mz3, also known as the Ant Nebula), a planetary nebula about 3,000 light years from Earth. Dynamic elongated clouds envelop bubbles of multimillion degree gas produced by high-velocity winds from dying stars.

Chandra & HST Images of BD+30-3639
This Chandra image of BD+30-3639 shows a hot bubble of multimillion degree gas surrounding a dying, Sun-like star that is about 5,000 light years from Earth. The distance across the bubble is roughly 100 times the diameter of our solar system.

Chandra & HST Images of Hen 3-1475
Chandra's image of Hen 3-1475 shows X-rays from this young planetary nebula that is about 18,000 light years from Earth.

Chandra & HST Images of NGC 7027
Chandra's image shows X-rays from NGC 7027, a young planetary nebula that is about 3,000 light years from Earth. A bubble of multimillion degree gas with a length about a hundred times that of our solar system is shown in the image. The image is brighter to the upper right — the side of the nebula nearest the Earth — where there is less obscuring material to block the X-ray emission.