NGC 6302 The Bug Nebula
Imaged by Martin S. Ferlito copyright
IMAGE 1 (Film Photography)
Nikon
FE2 Kodak E200 ASA film, 50 Minute Guided Expopsure
8" SCmidt-Cassegrain on
Vixen GP Mount, Stepper Driven.
Information provided by esa.int
The Bug
Nebula, NGC 6302, is one of the brightest and most extreme planetary
nebulae known. At its centre lies a superhot dying star smothered in a
blanket of ‘hailstones’. A new Hubble image reveals fresh detail in the
wings of this ‘cosmic butterfly’.
At the
heart of the turmoil is one of the hottest stars known. Despite an
extremely high temperature of at least 250 000 degrees Celsius, the
star itself has never been seen, as it shines most brightly in the
ultraviolet and is hidden by the blanket of dust, making it hard to
observe.
Stars like
the Sun end their lives ejecting much of their gas into space. The gas
ejections happen over relatively short timescales, from 1000 to 10 000
years, and form some of the most beautiful objects in the night sky -
the planetary nebulae.
The Bug Nebula lies in the southern constellation of Scorpius and its
distance is estimated to be about 4000 light-years.
IMAGE 2 ( Gstar-Ex LRGB)
