A telescope in Chile has captured a stunning new photo of a beautiful and majestic cosmic “butterfly.” The image was released by the US National Science Foundation’s (NSF) NoirLab Center.
The photo, taken last month by the Gemini South telescope, depicts the Butterfly Nebula, located 2,500 to 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. (A light-year is about 9.5 trillion kilometers.)
At the center of this bipolar nebula is a white dwarf star that has long since shed its outer layers of gas. The shed gas forms vast structures resembling butterfly wings that glow from the heat of the aging star.
This astronomical object was chosen as a target for Chilean schoolchildren to observe in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Gemini International Observatory.
