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.
Merz visit highlights new strategic, and strained, Germany-Israel bond- What's Your #1 Pizza Beating Mix?
- See the 'amazing' photos of Earth taken on historic Artemis II moon mission
- See the famous winged horse Pegasus fly in the autumn night sky
- 10 Hints for a Fruitful New employee screening
- NASA astronauts take new moonsuit for a swim | Space photo of the day for Nov. 28, 2025
- Ringleader of suspected human trafficking network arrested in Ethiopia
- Airport wait times won't return to normal until Congress reaches a deal to pay TSA. Here's why they still can't come to an agreement.
- Must-Have Cooking Machine in Your Kitchen
