The Butterfly Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is only thousands of years old. As a central star of a binary system [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] aged, it threw off its outer envelopes of gas in a strong stellar wind [ http://mars-hotel.p…]. The remaining stellar core is so hot it ionizes the previously ejected gas, causing it to glow. The different colors of this planetary nebula [ http://www.seds.org…] are determined by small differences in its composition. This bipolar nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] will continue to shine brightly for only a few thousand more years, after which its central star will fade and become a white dwarf [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] star. The above picture [ http://www.hq.eso.o…] is one of the first ever taken by the Very Large Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (VLT), a new 8.2-meter telescope located in Chile [ http://sunsite.dcc.…].
Explanation
The Butterfly Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is only thousands of years old. As a central star of a binary system [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] aged, it threw off its outer envelopes of gas in a strong stellar wind [ http://mars-hotel.p…]. The remaining stellar core is so hot it ionizes the previously ejected gas, causing it to glow. The different colors of this planetary nebula [ http://www.seds.org…] are determined by small differences in its composition. This bipolar nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] will continue to shine brightly for only a few thousand more years, after which its central star will fade and become a white dwarf [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] star. The above picture [ http://www.hq.eso.o…] is one of the first ever taken by the Very Large Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (VLT), a new 8.2-meter telescope located in Chile [ http://sunsite.dcc.…].
