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Exploring the Structure of the Egg Nebula

This visualization examines the Hubble Space Telescope image of the Egg Nebula and showcases the shape and development of its three-dimensional components. The dying star has repeatedly ejected thin shells of gas and dust over the last 5,000 years. During the last 400 years, bipolar lobes have burst forth. This central activity is hidden behind a dense dusty disk. The light from the star, blocked by the disk and lobes, escapes toward the poles and creates a twin searchlight appearance.

  • Release Date
    February 10, 2026
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Hubble Captures Light Show Around Rapidly Dying Star
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Visualization: NASA, ESA, STScI, Christian Nieves (STScI), Frank Summers (STScI); Narration: Frank Summers (STScI); Script Writer: Frank Summers (STScI); Audio: Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI); Music: Christian Nieves (STScI)

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  • Audio: Exploring the Structure of the Egg Nebula Music (Christian Nieves, STScI)
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Related Images & Videos

In the image center, an opaque oval cloud of gray gas aligned from 1 ou2019clock to 7 ou2019clock hides a star. Two strong beams of light from the star emerge from large holes in both sides of the cloud, forming narrow cones extending toward 10 ou2019clock and 4 ou2019clock. The central cloud is surrounded by concentric, wispy shells of gas illuminated by the staru2019s light. The shells reflect extra light where theyu2019re hit by the twin beams. A crowd of smaller stars with cross-shaped spikes over them surrounds the nebula on a black background.

Egg Nebula

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope reveals the clearest view yet of the Egg Nebula. This structure of gas and dust was created by a dying, Sun-like star. These newest observations were taken with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3.

Image titled Egg Nebula, HST WFC3 UVIS and IR. Added elements are compass arrows, scale bar, and color key. nAt center, an oval gray cloud from 1 ou2019clock to 7 ou2019clock hides a star. Two light beams emerge from large holes in both sides of the cloud, forming narrow cones extending toward 10 ou2019clock and 4 ou2019clock. The cloud is surrounded by concentric, wispy shells illuminated by the staru2019s light. The shells reflect extra light where hit by the twin beams. Small stars surround the nebula on a black background.nnAt bottom right, arrows indicate objectu2019s orientation on sky. North arrow points to 11 o'clock. East arrow points to 8 o'clock. At lower left is a scale bar. Top is labeled 0.24 light-years. Bottom is labeled 16.3 arcseconds. Baru2019s length is about one-fourth the imageu2019s width. nnAt top left a color key shows which filters were used to create the image and the color assignment of each. Top line, F606W, F673N, F814W, and F110W are blue. Second line, F110W and F160W are green. Third line, F160W is red.

Egg Nebula Compass

This image of the Egg Nebula was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope’s WFC3 (Wide Field Camera 3). The image shows a scale bar, compass arrows, and color key for reference.

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Details

Last Updated
Feb 10, 2026
Location
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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