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NASA has released an incredibly beautiful photo taken by the NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the planetary nebula M1-63.
This Hubble image shows the bipolar planetary nebula M1-63. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / L. Stanghellini.
M1-63 is a bipolar planetary nebula located in the small southern constellation of Scutum.
Also known as VV 209, IRAS 18486-1314 and 2MASS J18513095-1310367, it is found at a distance of almost 32,000 light years from Earth.
“A nebula like this forms when the star in its center throws out huge amounts of matter from its outer layers, leaving behind a dramatic cloud of gas and dust,” the Hubble astronomers said.
“It is believed that a binary system of stars at the center of the bipolar nebula is capable of creating hourglass or butterfly shapes like the one in this image.
“This is because the material from the raging star is funneled to its poles, with the help of the companion, creating the distinctive double lobed structure seen in nebulae such as M1-63.
The new M1-63 image consists of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the ultraviolet, near infrared and optical portions of the spectrum.
It is based on data obtained from four filters: F200W, F350W, F502W and F814W.
Color is the result of assigning different tints to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.
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