Dumbbell is the correct term for these staffers at NASA.
Notice that the RED is pushing the blue out of the picture.
This image is from an amateur astronomer, not NASA.
This is a fantastic image but it's been manipulated. The stars in front of and inside the nebula have been removed to show more of the nebulosity. Personally I prefer more realistic images.
What created this planetary nebula was a star that blew off it's outer shell in a cataclysmic event/explosion. The central star which caused or created this nebula is not seen in this image and was removed along with other stars during the processing of the image.