Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Scorpius (Sco)  ·  Contains:  Bug Nebula  ·  NGC 6302  ·  PK349+01.1
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NGC 6302 The Butterfly Nebula, Jeff Weiss
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NGC 6302 The Butterfly Nebula

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NGC 6302 The Butterfly Nebula, Jeff Weiss
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NGC 6302 The Butterfly Nebula

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Description

NGC 6302 The Butterfly Nebula (sometime Bug Nebula but I hope this one is more of a butterfly) is a bipolar planetary nebula with a wingspan covering over 3 light-years that is 4000 light-years away in the "arachnologically correct" constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius).  The dying central star of the PN has become exceptionally hot, shining brightly in ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust. Cutting across a bright cavity of ionized gas, the dust torus surrounding the center star is near the center of this view, almost edge-on to the line-of-sight. Molecular hydrogen has been detected in the hot star's dusty cosmic shroud [based on APOD write up 2 March 2019].

This 22 hr image with LRGBSHO filters is with "natural color mapping" of the narrow band data plus RGB stars.  The data was collected by DeepSkyWest in Chile in March 2022.

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  • NGC 6302 The Butterfly Nebula, Jeff Weiss
    Original
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    NGC 6302 The Butterfly Nebula, Jeff Weiss
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NGC 6302 The Butterfly Nebula, Jeff Weiss