The European Southern Observatory (ESO) recorded a hypnotic image of a gas bubble that appears like a butterfly. With such details the bubble-identified as NGC 2899- has never been captured before.
This extremely accurate image of NGC 2899 has been obtained by astronomers using the FORS instrument mounted on UT1 (Antu), one of the four 8.2-meter telescopes that make up ESO’s VLT in Chile. Standing for FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph, this high-resolution device was among the first to be mounted on ESO’s VLT and is behind many stunning photos and observations from ESO.
Space butterfly is situated between 3000 and 6500 light-years south, in the Southern constellation of Vela, better known as The Sails. It has two central stars, which is what gives it its distinctive, almost symmetrical shape.
This picture was produced in the context of the ESO Cosmic Gems project, an outreach effort to generate photographs of fascinating, compelling or visually appealing phenomena utilizing ESO telescopes for educational and public outreach purposes.
Astronomers have only been able to witness such an phenomenon once before, but expect that it would be able to discover the mysteries of the cosmos, and how our own world has evolved around the iron heart, as well as the impact of dark energy.
The data gathered will also be appropriate for research purposes and rendered accessible to astronomers via the ESO Scientific Archive.
