CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A telescope in Chile has captured a stunning new picture of a grand and graceful cosmic butterfly.
The National Science Foundation’s NoirLab released the picture Wednesday.
Snapped last month by the Gemini South telescope, the aptly named Butterfly Nebula is 2,500 to 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. A single light-year is 6 trillion miles.
At the heart of this bipolar nebula is a white dwarf star that cast aside its outer layers of gas long ago. The discarded gas forms the butterflylike wings billowing from the aging star, whose heat causes the gas to glow.
Schoolchildren in Chile chose this astronomical target to celebrate 25 years of operation by the International Gemini Observatory.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
LATEST POSTS
- 1
Rights groups condemn Israel Police decision to ban Sudan Genocide protests nationwide - 2My skin feels drier, my lips thinner and my makeup heavier. How do I adjust my routine for aging skin?
- 3Make your choice for the bird that catches your heart!
- 4The Solution to Ecological Protection: Saving Nature for People in the future
- 57 Moves toward a Sound and Dynamic Way of life
- Cases of norovirus are on the rise just in time for the holiday season
- Barry Manilow reveals lung cancer diagnosis and plans to undergo surgery: 'It's pure luck' it was 'found so early'
- The Force of Mentorship: Self-improvement through Direction
- Find Serenity: 10 Stunning Setting up camp Areas
- Lucrative Positions in the Advancing Position Market of 2024
- Overhaul Your Rest: Tips for a Serene Evening
- Massive supernova explosion may have created a binary black hole
- Greece eyes migrant repatriation centres outside the EU
- Language Learning Stages: Which One Gets Your Vote?
