I remember the first time I pointed my 25cm telescope at the Ring Nebula in Lyra. Even through modest amateur optics, that surreal view of the ring hanging in space was breathtaking—the glowing embers of a dying star.
Planetary nebulae like the Ring have long been favourites among amateur astronomers, not just for their visual beauty but because they represent the end of a star’s life.
However, new research is revealing equally fascinating structures at the opposite end of stellar evolution: the discs where planets are born. And they’re not quite what we expected.
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/warped-planetary-discs-challenge-our-understanding-of-planet-formation
