Butterfly Nebula 3,800 light years away

| 10/09/2009

(NASA): This celestial object looks like a delicate butterfly. But it is far from serene. What resemble dainty butterfly wings are actually roiling cauldrons of gas heated to more than 36,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The gas is tearing across space at more than 600,000 miles an hour — fast enough to travel from Earth to the moon in 24 minutes! A dying star that was once about five times the mass of the Sun is at the center of this fury. It has ejected its envelope of gases and is now unleashing a stream of ultraviolet radiation that is making the cast-off material glow. This object is an example of a planetary nebula, so-named because many of them have a round appearance resembling that of a planet when viewed through a small telescope.

See more amazing new images from the refurbished Hubble Telescope

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Category: Science and Nature

About the Author ()

Comments (7)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Who did it? says:

    Someone must be to blame for this.  The current suspects must include:

    1. Mother England

    2. The PPM

    3. The UDP

    4. Expats

    5. Caymanians

    6. The youth of Cayman

    7. The parents of today

    8. The Governor

    9. God

    10. Non-Christians

    I am conducting a thorough investigation and will report back with my results.

    • Anonymous says:

      You cannot blame all but one of those options given… I don’t think you can even blame any of them. Thats just science and you can’t blame some one/thing for science. Geez That was just uncalled for.

  2. Sir Henry Morgan says:

    Re: This is fantasy. 

    I’m guessing you probably believe the world is flat too huh?

    • Anon says:

      lol…..yeah I was very confused by what the poster wrote…..I still don’t understand what they were talking about…..but anyway….maybe it’s just me….

      • Any says:

        Cheesus, it’s obvious that the comment is written on jest, making fun of people that believe everything that’s on the bible, because according to the bible the earth is flat and doesn’t move.

  3. Anonymous says:

    This is fantasy.  I have read Genesis and Enoch.  I know that the stars are fixed in the firmament by God and the Sun and the moon pass through holes in the firmament.  Why do people publish such heresy?

  4. Anonymous says:

    This was such a good read! It’s good to read something other than murders, guns, thefts and drugs!