Jaw-Dropping ‘Cosmic Butterfly’ Captured In Deep Space
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A telescope in Chile has captured a striking new image of a large, graceful cosmic butterfly.
The National Science Foundation’s NoirLab released the image on Wednesday.
Captured last month by the Gemini Southern Telescope, the aptly named Butterfly Nebula is located 2,500 to 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Scorpio.
A single light year is 6 trillion miles.
At the heart of this bipolar nebula is a white dwarf star that shed its outer layers of gas long ago.
The expelled gas forms butterfly-like wings that emerge from the aging star, and the star’s heat causes the gas to glow.
Schoolchildren in Chile chose this astronomical target to celebrate the International Gemini Observatory’s 25th year of operation.
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