Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Scorpius (Sco)  ·  Contains:  Bug Nebula  ·  NGC 6302
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Bug / Buttefly Bipolar Nebula  - NGC6302, KiwiAstro
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Bug / Buttefly Bipolar Nebula - NGC6302

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Bug / Buttefly Bipolar Nebula  - NGC6302, KiwiAstro
Powered byPixInsight

Bug / Buttefly Bipolar Nebula - NGC6302

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Description

NGC 6302 is a bipolar planetary nebula located within our Milky Way galaxy, roughly 3800 light-years away in the constellation of Scorpius. The glowing gas was once the star's outer layers, but has been expelled over about 2200 years. The butterfly shape stretches for more than two light-years, which is about half the distance from the Sun to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri.New observations of the object have found unprecedented levels of complexity and rapid changes in the jets and gas bubbles blasting off of the star at the centre of the nebula.

There a only a few images of NGC6302 circulating but given it complexity and interesting background, and that I learned of it recently, wanted to put this on my imaging list.

This is a small object (1.4 x 0.4 arcmin) and thus a bit a of challenge for my 4 inch scope but always eager to give the more difficult objects a go.  Due to its position in the night sky, I had roughly less than an hour minutes to image each night so have taken the images over several nights.

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Bug / Buttefly Bipolar Nebula  - NGC6302, KiwiAstro

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Imaged with APT