Pretty strange and mysterious things occur in space. Take for example, the awe-inspiring mixture of interstellar gas and dust seen in the “Pillars of Creation.” The photo, taken on April 1, 1995, has quite a reputation among astronomers and layfolk alike. Unsurprisingly, it was named by Space.com as one of the top ten photographs taken by NASA/ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope. A new photo of Twin Jet Nebula, however, looks like it might give the “Pillars of Creation” a run for its money.
Hubble Space Telescope Captures Stunning Image of Twin Jet Nebula
This time around, Hubble was able to capture a shot of a “dying, binary star” or Twin Jet Nebula. According to Gizmodo, the photo was released to the public today, and features the nebula’s “two shimmering lobes” that somewhat resemble the wings of a butterfly (at least a galactic one).
The nebula, or PN M2-9, was discovered in 1947 by Rudolph Minkowski, a German-American Astronomer. The glowing and “expanding shells of gas” that can be seen stretching outwards from the center are indicative of the final stages of life for an old star. During this phase, the star would have ejected its outer layers to expose its core; the rainbow colors you can see so well in the picture are caused when the core illuminates these layers.
This photo, in particular, depicts a bipolar nebula (two stars) – each of which have the same mass as the sun. The butterfly-wing effect is mostly likely caused by the movement of the two central stars – consisting of a white dwarf and its partner star – as they navigate around each other. According to CBS News, this white dwarf star is thought to be orbiting its partner star, which helps to pull the ejected gas, moving at speeds close to 620,000 miles an hour, from the dying star into the formation of two lobes.
In describing the photo, NASA states:
“Within the wings, starting from the star system and extending horizontally outwards like veins are two faint blue patches.”
Based on the information gathered from this picture and through observations, astronomers believe that the nebula was created roughly 1,200 years ago – a very short time, considering the over timeline of space and the universe.
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