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NGC 6302: La "Nebulosa de la Mariposa"

Hubble was recently retrained on NGC 6302, known as the "Butterfly Nebula," to observe it across a more complete spectrum of light, from near-ultraviolet to near-infrared, helping researchers better understand the mechanics at work in its technicolor "wings" of gas. The observati...

Fecha
Jan 1, 2020
Misión
Hubble Space Telescope
ID de archivo
hubblesite-images-2020-31-4680-image
Por

Hubble was recently retrained on NGC 6302, known as the "Butterfly Nebula," to observe it across a more complete spectrum of light, from near-ultraviolet to near-infrared, helping researchers better understand the mechanics at work in its technicolor "wings" of gas. The observations highlight a new pattern of near-infrared emission from singly ionized iron, which traces an S shape from lower left to upper right. This iron emission likely traces the central star system’s most recent ejections of gas, which are moving at much faster speeds than the previously expelled mass.

The star or stars at its center are responsible for the nebula's appearance. In their death throes, they have cast off layers of gas periodically over the past couple thousand years. The "wings" of NGC 6302 are regions of gas heated to more than 36,000 degrees Fahrenheit that are tearing across space at more than 600,000 miles an hour.

NGC 6302 lies between 2,500 and 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.

Credits

Image

NASA, ESA, Joel Kastner (RIT)

Detalles de la imagen

About The Object
Object NameNGC 6302
Object DescriptionPlanetary Nebula
R.A. Position17:13:44.21
Dec. Position-37:06:15.94
ConstellationScorpius
Distance3,400 light-years
DimensionsImage is 2.25 arcmin across (about 2 light-years)
About The Data
Data DescriptionThe HST observations include those from programs (J. Kastner)
InstrumentWFC3/UVIS and IR
Exposure Dates30 observations between Nov 2019 and Apr 2020
FiltersF343N, F487N, F502N, F656N, F658N, F673N, F110W, F128N, F130N, F160W, F164N
About The Image
Color InfoThese images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/UVIS and WFC3/IR instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Purple: F502N Luminosity: F656N Green: F658N Cyan: F110W Orange: F164N

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