Zooming in on the unusual planetary nebula Henize 2-428

This video sequence starts with a view of most of the sky and closes in on a new view of the strange  planetary nebula Henize 2-428. The core of this unique object consists of two white dwarf stars, each with a mass a little less than that of the Sun. They are expected to slowly draw closer to each other and merge in around 700 million years. This event will create a dazzling supernova of Type Ia and destroy both stars.