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.
latest_posts
- 1
Figure out how to Amplify Your Open Record Reward - 2Different Film Classification: What's Your Go-To for Amusement
- 3Viable Correspondence: Building Solid Connections
- 4Climate leaders are talking about 'overshoot' into warming danger zone. Here's what it means
- 55 Great Crossover Vehicles For Eco-friendliness In 2024
- Instructions to Investigate Different Open Record Extra Offers Actually
- Manual for Tracking down the Mysterious Cascades in China
- Vote In favor of Your Number one Cell phones
- 6 Nations for Setting up camp
- Tech for Wellbeing: Applications and Devices for a Better You
- Beyond the habitable zone: Exoplanet atmospheres are the next clue to finding life on planets orbiting distant stars
- Find the Mysteries of Effective Objective Setting: Transforming Dreams into Feasible Targets
- Best Streaming Gadget for Your Home Theater
- Figure out how to Put resources into Lab Precious stones: A Novice's Aide
