Two Stars Clash in Space, Forming Nebula Necklace

The Necklace Nebula is located about 15,000 light-years from Earth, inside the Sagitta constellation in the northern sky.
The Necklace Nebula is located about 15,000 light-years from Earth, inside the Sagitta constellation in the northern sky.
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Two Stars Clash in Space, Forming Nebula Necklace

The Necklace Nebula is located about 15,000 light-years from Earth, inside the Sagitta constellation in the northern sky.
The Necklace Nebula is located about 15,000 light-years from Earth, inside the Sagitta constellation in the northern sky.

Two stars, bound together in orbital matrimony, are slowly ripping each other apart. And, like many relationship squabbles, this stellar spat ends with jewelry.

A nebula is a celestial body composed of ionized gases including hydrogen, helium, and dust. The Necklace Nebula is located about 15,000 light-years from Earth, inside the Sagitta constellation in the northern sky, near another nebula named PN G054.203.4, which witnessed this exceptional event observed by NASA's Hubble Telescope.

To telescopes like Hubble, the newly spotted nebula looks like an emerald oval, ringed with sparkling clusters of jewel-like gas. A pair of binary stars forms a bright speck at the center.

According to a report by the Live Science website, that speck looks like a single star, but it's no bachelor; about 10,000 years ago, the star grew so large that its outermost layer of gas actually swallowed up a smaller companion star. That smaller companion is still orbiting inside its larger partner's gassy sheath.

According to NASA experts, as a star orbits through its larger partner, the gas surrounding the duo begins to rotate faster and faster. At some point, the gas surrounding this stellar couple started swirling so fast that huge swaths of it started spilling out into space.

That runaway gas escaped in an oval shape, gushing outward for trillions of miles in every direction — thus creating the necklace shape we can see so vividly in the above Hubble image.

As for the sparkling jewels running along the outside of the ring, these are just areas where the stellar gas bunched up into particularly dense clusters.

For now, the two stars at the center of the nebula will continue their mad ballroom dance around each other, completing a full orbit in a little more than an Earth day, according to NASA. But their end is uncertain. Many binary couples end their relationships with immense supernova explosions.



Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore Among Those who Lost Homes in Los Angeles Fires

A blackened US flag flies above a charred structure after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP)
A blackened US flag flies above a charred structure after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP)
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Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore Among Those who Lost Homes in Los Angeles Fires

A blackened US flag flies above a charred structure after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP)
A blackened US flag flies above a charred structure after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP)

Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events.
Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week's Oscar nominations have been delayed. And tens of thousands of Angelenos are displaced and awaiting word Thursday on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city's most famous denizens, The Associated Press reported.
More than 1,900 structures have been destroyed and the number is expected to increase. More than 130,000 people are also under evacuation orders in the metropolitan area, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena, a number that continues to shift as new fires erupt.
Late Wednesday, a fire in the Hollywood Hills was scorching the hills near the famed Hollywood Bowl and Dolby Theatre, which is the home of the Academy Awards.
Here are how the fires are impacting celebrities and the Los Angeles entertainment industry:
Stars whose homes have burned in the fires Celebrities like Crystal and his wife, Janice, were sharing memories of the homes they lost.
The Crystals lost the home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood that they lived in for 45 years.
“Janice and I lived in our home since 1979. We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away. We are heartbroken of course but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this,” the Crystals wrote in the statement.
Mandy Moore lost her home in the Altadena neighborhood roughly 30 miles east of the Palisades.
“Honestly, I’m in shock and feeling numb for all so many have lost, including my family. My children’s school is gone. Our favorite restaurants, leveled. So many friends and loved ones have lost everything too,” Moore wrote on Instagram in a post that included video of devastated streets in the foothill suburb.
“Our community is broken but we will be here to rebuild together. Sending love to all affected and on the front lines trying to get this under control,” Moore wrote.
Hilton posted a news video clip on Instagram and said it included footage of her destroyed home in Malibu. “This home was where we built so many precious memories. It’s where Phoenix took his first steps and where we dreamed of building a lifetime of memories with London,” she said, referencing her young children."
Elwes, the star of “The Princess Bride” and numerous other films, wrote on Instagram Wednesday that his family was safe but their home had burned in the coastal Palisades fire. “Sadly we did lose our home but we are grateful to have survived this truly devastating fire,” Elwes wrote.
The blazes have thrown Hollywood's carefully orchestrated awards season into disarray.
Awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed due to the fires. The AFI Awards, which were set to honor “Wicked,” “Anora” and other awards season contenders, had been scheduled for Friday.
The AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, which honor movies and television shows that resonate with older audiences, were set for Friday but have been postponed.
The Critics Choice Awards, originally scheduled for Sunday, have been postponed until Feb. 26.
Each of the shows feature projects that are looking for any advantage they can get in the Oscar race and were scheduled during the Academy Awards voting window.
The Oscar nominations are also being delayed two days to Jan. 19 and the film academy has extended the voting window to accommodate members affected by the fires.