When the Sun reaches the end of its life cycle, it will expand into a red giant and eventually release its outer layers into space, forming a planetary nebula.

Here's a breakdown:

* Red Giant: As the Sun runs out of hydrogen fuel in its core, it will start fusing helium. This process causes the Sun to expand significantly, becoming a red giant.

* Planetary Nebula: The red giant phase is unstable, and the Sun will eventually lose its outer layers. These layers are pushed outwards by the Sun's intense radiation, creating a beautiful, glowing cloud of gas and dust called a planetary nebula.

* White Dwarf: The core of the Sun will be left behind as a dense, hot, and extremely small object called a white dwarf. This is the final stage of the Sun's life cycle.

It's important to note that the term "planetary nebula" is misleading as it has nothing to do with planets. It was named so in the early days of astronomy because it appeared as a fuzzy, planet-like object through telescopes.