Two lobes of gas and dust expand outward from the center toward the lower left and upper right of the image. Most of the image is filled by the lower lobe. The center of each lobe is bright-white ringed by a orange-yellow and then a rusty, orange-brown. The nebula is on a black background.

C69 – Butterfly Nebula Close-Up

This close-up image showing details in one lobe of Caldwell 69 was taken by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 prior to Hubble’s final servicing mission. The Butterfly Nebula, NGC 6302, is one of the brightest and most extreme planetary nebulae known. The fiery, dying star at its center is shrouded by a blanket of icy hailstones. This image shows impressive walls of compressed gas, laced with trailing strands and bubbling outflows.

Credits: A. Zijlstra (UMIST) et al., ESA, NASA
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Image CreditA. Zijlstra (UMIST) et al., ESA, NASA
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