Dead-star debris returns to the Galaxy, foreshadowing the Sun's distant fate
Astronomers using the new MOTHRA instrument spotted bow-shaped clumps in the Helix Nebula, showing material shed by a dying star being torn apart and reabsorbed into the interstellar medium, a vivid demonstration of stellar debris being recycled into the galaxy to seed future stars—and a reminder that our Sun will undergo a similar fate in about five billion years.