Cosmic butterfly

The Bug Nebula, NGC 6302, is one of the brightest and most extreme planetary nebulae known. It is located about 4,000 light-years away, towards the Scorpius constellation (the Scorpion). The nebula is the swansong of a dying solar-like star lying at its centre. At about 250,000 degrees Celsius and smothered in a blanket of hailstones, the star itself has never been observed as it is surrounded by a dense disc of gas and dust, opaque to light. This dense disc may be the origin of the hourglass structure of the nebula.

This colour image, which nicely highlights the complex structure of the nebula, is a composite of three exposures through blue, green and red filters. It was made using the 1.5-metre Danish telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory, Chile.

Crediti:

ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/R. Gendler, A. Hornstrup and J.-E. Ovaldsen

Riguardo l'immagine

Identificazione:eso-6302
Tipo:Osservazione
Data di rilascio:Giovedì 03 Dicembre 2009 23:19
Grandezza:1200 x 1117 px

Riguardo all'oggetto

Nome:NGC 6302
Tipo:Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary
Distanza:4000 Anni luce
Constellation:Scorpius
Categoria:Nebulae

Formati delle immagini

JPEG grande
283,1 KB

Sfondi

1024x768
195,6 KB
1280x1024
278,6 KB
1600x1200
359,2 KB
1920x1200
393,7 KB
2048x1536
503,3 KB

Coordinate

Position (RA):17 13 44.27
Position (Dec):-37° 6' 16.25"
Field of view:6.22 x 5.79 arcminutes
Orientazione:Il Nord è a 45.1° a sinistra della verticale

Colori e filtri

BandaLunghezza d'ondaTelescopio
Ottico
B
451 nmDanish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC
Ottico
V
539 nmDanish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC
Ottico
R
651 nmDanish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC