Astronomers bring the third dimension to a doomed star's outburst

Astronomers have created a detailed 3D model of the expanding cloud of debris produced in the outburst of a doomed star. The model can be reproduced at home by anyone with a 3D printer. The team report their findings in a paper published today in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. A new shape model of the Homunculus Nebula reveals protrusions, trenches, holes and irregularities in its molecular hydrogen emission. The protrusions appear near a dust skirt seen at the ne...