Dying Star’s Explosion Creates Stunning Butterfly Nebula

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope was able to snap a photo of a nebula created by a dying star’s explosion. The outburst from the star created a stunning cosmic structure that resembles a giant butterfly in space.

The cosmic object featured in Hubble’s photo is a planetary nebula known as NGC 6302. It lies in the Scorpius constellation and is located about 3,800 light-years from Earth’s neighborhood.

The star that formed the nebula is hidden behind massive clouds of gas, dust and other cosmic debris. According to NASA, this star used to be five times more massive than the Sun before it began using up the rest of its fuel reserves.

As the star ran out of energy, it began to expand and shed its outer layer. The outburst caused by the star created a stunning display of ultraviolet radiation that was captured by Hubble’s infrared imaging capabilities. This led to the creation of a planetary nebula, which got its name due to its appearance.

“A dying star that was once about five times the mass of the Sun is at the center of this fury,” NASA explained in a statement. “It 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,” the agency added.

NGC 6302 is characterized by its huge wing-like structures, which is why it has been referred to as the butterfly nebula. As explained by NASA, the “wings” of the nebula were created by the gas that was expelled by the dying central star.

Eventually, as the central star’s temperature increased, which is currently at 400,000 degrees Fahrenheit, it's hot stellar winds began carving through the surrounding clouds of gas and modified the appearance of the wing-like structures.

“Other gas was ejected perpendicular to the ring at higher speeds, producing the elongated "wings" of the butterfly-shaped structure,” NASA stated. “Later, as the central star heated up, a much faster stellar wind, a stream of charged particles traveling at more than 2 million miles an hour, plowed through the existing wing-shaped structure, further modifying its shape.”