CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A telescope in Chile has captured a stunning new picture of a grand and graceful cosmic butterfly.
The National Science Foundation’s NoirLab released the picture Wednesday.
Snapped last month by the Gemini South telescope, the aptly named Butterfly Nebula is 2,500 to 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. A single light-year is 6 trillion miles.
At the heart of this bipolar nebula is a white dwarf star that cast aside its outer layers of gas long ago. The discarded gas forms the butterflylike wings billowing from the aging star, whose heat causes the gas to glow.
Schoolchildren in Chile chose this astronomical target to celebrate 25 years of operation by the International Gemini Observatory.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
LATEST POSTS
- 1
A quick recap of 'Stranger Things' Seasons 1-4, plus key episodes to rewatch before Volume 1 of the final season drops - 2Cyclone Narelle turns Australian skies blood red in ‘apocalyptic’ scenes
- 3Voting begins in Uganda’s presidential election during internet shutdown and polling station delays
- 4South Korea to End Bear Bile Farming and Find New Homes for the 200 Bears Stuck in the Industry
- 5Most loved Web-based feature: Which Stage Do You Like
- NASA chief Jared Isaacman says Texas may get a moonship, not space shuttle Discovery
- Working out at the airport? Some fliers can already smell the sweat.
- Recalled Super Greens diet supplement powder sickens 45 with salmonella
- Car Investigation: A Survey of \Past the Outside\ Car
- 'Every day I planned an escape': Ariel Cunio shares details of Hamas captivity
- Transcript: NASA's Jared Isaacman on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," April 5, 2026
- Oil Tanker Carrying Iraqi Cargo Seen Transiting Strait of Hormuz
- Major railway disruptions persist as Germany braces for more snow
- California officials warn against foraging wild mushrooms after deadly poisoning outbreak
