Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Scorpius (Sco)  ·  Contains:  Bug Nebula  ·  HD322864  ·  NGC 6302  ·  PK349+01.1
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NGC 6302 The Butterfly, Jeff Reitzel
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NGC 6302 The Butterfly

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 6302 The Butterfly, Jeff Reitzel
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 6302 The Butterfly

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Description

NGC 6302 known as the Bug or Butterfly Nebula is a bipolar planetary nebula located 3800 light years away in the Constellation Scorpius. This tiny object appears to be a calm butterfly floating in space. Reality is far different. Hot gas is spewing from a dying star near its center. The wings are actually gas racing out at over 600,000 mph and nearly 20,000 C. The central star itself cannot be seen but is one of the hottest known at over 250,000 C.

This object is far too low on the horizon to image from my home in Idaho. This is 12hrs NB data using a Planewave CDK24 scope from El Sauce Observatory, Chile. Data acquired via Telescope Live. Processed by me using Pixinsight and Photoshop.

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NGC 6302 The Butterfly, Jeff Reitzel