Stellar Butterfly Wall Art

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Photo courtesy of Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center

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Description

A bipolar planetary nebula in the Scorpius constellation, NGC 6302 is also known as the Bug Nebula, or - for obvious reasons - the Butterfly Nebula. Although this stunningly evocative celestial object appears to be serene and beautiful, the reality is a little different. Those delicate butterfly wings are actually vast gas clouds, covering over two light years, accelerating across space at around 170 miles a second, and heated to over 20,000 degrees Celsius. The white dwarf star at its centre is one of the hottest in the galaxy, but is hidden from view inside an enormous dust belt, which 'pinches' the star's outflow of radiation, giving the nebula its classic hourglass shape. This composite shot was taken in July 2009 with the Hubble Space Telescope.