The Butterfly Nebula: The majestic sight is 'merely' 4000 light-years away - Daily Bhaskar

NASA: The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth's night sky are often named for flowers or insects. The Buttefly nebula, known as NGC 6302, has a wingspan that covers a distance of mammoth 3 light-years in space. The surface temperature is about 2,50,000 Deg Cel. The dying central star of this particular planetary nebula has become exceptionally hot, shining brightly in ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust. This sharp and colorful close-up of the dying star's nebula was recorded in 2009 by the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3, installed during the final shuttle servicing mission.  NGC 6302 lies about 4,000 light-years away in the arachnologically correct constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius). What is a Nebula? A nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases. Originally, nebula was a name for any diffuse astronomical object, including galaxies beyond the Milky Way. The Andromeda Galaxy, for instance, was referred to as the Andromeda Nebula (and spiral galaxies in general as "spiral nebulae") before the true nature of galaxies was confirmed in the early 20th century by Vesto Slipher, Edwin Hubble, et. al. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as in the Eagle Nebula. This nebula is depicted in one of NASA's most famous images, the "Pillars of Creation". In these regions the formations of gas, dust, and other materials "clump" together to form larger masses, which attract further matter, and eventually will become massive enough to form stars. The remaining materials are then believed to form planets, and other planetary system objects. We take you on a journey through space. Click next to see breathtaking images from outer space. via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHzsO_wYNSBFjW5QSqcpJnmm_mbLA&url=http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/WOR-the-butterfly-nebula-the-majestic-sight-is-merely-4000-light-years-away-4285886-PHO.html?WLD=

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