Compass Image for Stingray Nebula in 2016

Fading Stingray Nebula

This image compares two drastically different portraits of the Stingray nebula captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope 20 years apart. The image on the left, taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 in March 1996, shows the nebula’s central star in the final stages of...

Stingray Nebula in 1996

This image shows the planetary nebula Hen 3-1357, nicknamed the Stingray nebula, captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in March 1996. The image captures the final stages of the central star’s life, where a ballooning shroud of gas is cast off by the dying star. This image...

Stingray Nebula in 2016

This image shows the planetary nebula Hen 3-1357, nicknamed the Stingray nebula, captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in January 2016. This image of the Stingray nebula shows it has changed drastically in brightness and shape when compared to its first portrait by Hubble in...

Compass Image for Stingray Nebula in 1996

Fading Stingray Nebula

This video shows the drastic changes to the planetary nebula Hen 3-1357, nicknamed the Stingray nebula, over two decades as captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The nebula is first seen as it was in 1996, with filaments and tendrils of gas glowing bright blue at its...