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 for any formula_39. Given the image of a parametric curve, one can define several different parametrizations of the parametric curve. Differential geometry aims to describe the properties of parametric curves that are invariant under certain re-parametrizations. We thus have to define a suitable equivalence relation on the set of all parametric curves. The differential-geometric properties of a parametric curve (e.g., its length, its Frenet frame and its generalized curvature) are invariant under re-parametrization and therefore properties of the equivalence class itself. The equivalence classes are called formula_5-curves and are central objects studied in the differential geometry of curves. Two parametric