The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth’s night sky are often named
for flowers or insects. Though its
wingspan covers over 3 light-years, NGC 6302 is no exception.
With an estimated surface temperature of about 250,000 degrees C, the dying central star of
this particular planetary
nebula has become exceptionally hot, shining brightly in ultraviolet
light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust. This sharp close-up
was recorded by the Hubble Space
Telescope in 2009.
The Hubble image data is reprocessed here, showing off the remarkable
details of the complex planetary nebula. Cutting across a bright cavity of
ionized gas, the dust torus surrounding
the central star is near the center of this view, almost edge-on to the
line-of-sight. Molecular
hydrogen has
been detected in the hot star’s dusty cosmic shroud. NGC 6302 lies about 4,000
light-years away in the arachnologically correct constellation of the Scorpion
(Scorpius).
Image & info via APOD
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Reprocessing &
Copyright: Robert Eder
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