Photo # 2 (Nov 2009)

THE BUTTERFLY NEBULA FROM UPGRADED HUBBLE

Change your thoughts
and change your world.
                  -Norman Vincent Peale

Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team

The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth's night sky are often named for flowers or insects, and NGC 6302 is no exception. With an estimated surface temperature of about 250,000 degrees C, the central star of this particular planetary nebula is exceptionally hot though -- shining brightly in ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust. This dramatically detailed close-up of the dying star's nebula was recorded by the newly upgraded Hubble Space Telescope. Cutting across a bright cavity of ionized gas, the dust torus surrounding the central 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. NGC 6302 lies about 4,000 light-years away in the arachnologically correct constellation Scorpius.

Are these objects of beauty in the heavens random creations to which we just attribute beauty?

Does it matter?

They bring us wonderment, joy and inspiration.

- Dan Benor, MD