Celestial Inkblot Tests

摘要

COMMON NAMES FOR planetary nebulae are some of the most imaginative in astronomy. Partly that's because the official designations of these vestiges of dying stars range from the blandly categorical (e.g., NGC 2346) to the truly ungainly (PN G75.5+1.7). "Butterfly Nebula" and "Soap Bubble Nebula," as the two objects just mentioned are informally known, tickle our fancies a bit more.