A Pan Sequence of the Planetary Nebula NGC 6302

This is a pan sequence of the planetary nebula NGC 6302, imaged on July 27, 2009 with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). A dying star that was once about five times the mass of the Sun is at the center of the nebula, more popularly known as the Bug Nebula or the Butterfly Nebula. The star has ejected its envelope of gases and is now unleashing a stream of ultraviolet radiation that is making the cast-off material glow.

This object is an example of a planetary nebula, so-named because many of them have a round appearance resembling that of a planet when viewed through a small telescope.