IC 418 IC 418 IC 418, also known as Spirograph Nebula, is a planetary nebula in the Milky Way Galaxy. The name derives from the intricate pattern of the nebula, which resembles a pattern which can be created using the Spirograph, a toy that produces geometric patterns (specifically, hypotrochoids and epitrochoids) on paper. Only a few million years ago, IC 418 was probably a common red giant star. Since running out of nuclear fuel, though, the outer envelope has begun expanding outward leaving a hot remnant core destined to become a white dwarf star. IC 418 lies about 3600 light-years away and
Differential geometry of curves space curves are only distinguished by the way in which they bend and twist. Quantitatively, this is measured by the differential-geometric invariants called the "curvature" and the "torsion" of a curve. The fundamental theorem of curves asserts that the knowledge of these invariants completely determines the curve. Let (i) formula_1, (ii) formula_2, and (iii) formula_3 be a non-empty interval of real numbers. Then a vector-valued function of class formula_5 (i.e., the component-functions of formula_6 are formula_7-times continuously differentiable) is called a parametric formula_5-curve or a formula_5-parametrization. Note that formula_10 is called the image of the parametric curve. It is important