Panning across the planetary nebula ESO 378-1

This extraordinary bubble, glowing like the ghost of a star in the haunting darkness of space, may appear supernatural and mysterious, but it is a familiar astronomical object: a planetary nebula, the remnants of a dying star. This video pan sequence gives a close-up view of what is the best image of the little-known object ESO 378-1 yet obtained and was captured by ESO’s Very Large Telescope in northern Chile.