Lambda Velorum apparent magnitudes +2.14 to +2.30. λ Velorum is an evolved star that has exhausted the hydrogen in its core region. It has about seven times the mass of the Sun. It is likely to be on or approaching the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), although its properties do not exclude it being a slightly more massive star on the red giant branch (RGB). As an AGB star it has an inert core of carbon and oxygen and is alternately fusing helium and hydrogen in two shells outside the core. The star's outer envelope has expanded to form a deep, convective, hydrogen
Planetary nebula exceeding about 30,000 K, there are enough emitted ultraviolet photons to ionize the ejected atmosphere, causing the gas to shine as a planetary nebula. After a star passes through the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase, the short planetary nebula phase of stellar evolution begins as gases blow away from the central star at speeds of a few kilometers per second. The central star is the remnant of its AGB progenitor, an electron-degenerate carbon-oxygen core that has lost most of its hydrogen envelope due to mass loss on the AGB. As the gases expand, the central star undergoes a two-stage evolution,