Rudolphine Tables and instructive examples for computing planetary positions. For most stars these tables were accurate to within one arc minute, and included corrective factors for atmospheric refraction. The tables were sufficiently accurate to predict a transit of Mercury observed by Pierre Gassendi in 1631 and a transit of Venus observed by Jeremiah Horrox in 1639. Rudolphine Tables The Rudolphine Tables () consist of a star catalogue and planetary tables published by Johannes Kepler in 1627, using some observational data collected by Tycho Brahe (1546–1601). The tables are named as "Rudolphine" in memory of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor. Star tables had
Planetary nebula Planetary nebula A planetary nebula, abbreviated as PN or plural PNe, is a type of emission nebula consisting of an expanding, glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from red giant stars late in their lives. The term "planetary nebula" is arguably a misnomer, since this phenomenon is not associated with observations of actual planets, and perhaps was derived from the planet-like round shape of these nebulae as observed by astronomers through early telescopes. The term may have originated in the 1780s with the English astronomer William Herschel who described these nebulae as resembling planets; however, as early as January 1779,