Posted on 06/06/2025 12:23:56 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth's night sky are often given the names of flowers or insects, and its whopping 3 light-year wingspan, NGC 6302 is no exception. With an estimated surface temperature of about 250,000 degrees C, the central star of the planetary nebula is transforming into a white dwarf star, becoming exceptionally hot, and shining brightly in ultraviolet light. The central star is hidden from direct view by a torus of dust, but its energetic ultraviolet light ionizes atoms in the nebula. In this sharp, telescopic view composed with narrowband image data, the ionized hydrogen and doubly ionized oxygen atoms are shown in their characteristic red and blue-green hues to reveal a stunning complex of knots and filaments within the nebula's wing-like bipolar outflows. NGC 6302 lies about 4,000 light-years away in the arachnologically correct constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius).
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Beautiful.
That was a big kaboom a looooong time ago. And pretty now.
Wow.
Very Pretty..
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Star Spangled Cosmos!
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God Bless America!
Very pretty!
3 light year span. Our closet star is about 4.3 light years.
I wonder how we would be affected if NGC 6302 was that close to us. Would the star stuff interact with our sun and the outburst wash over the earth and end all life?
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