APOD: The Butterfly Nebula from Hubble (2017 Feb 08)

[APOD Robot]

The Butterfly Nebula from Hubble

Explanation: The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth's night sky are often named for flowers or insects. Though its wingspan covers over 3 light-years, NGC 6302 is no exception. With an estimated surface temperature of about 250,000 degrees C, the dying central star of this particular planetary nebula has become exceptionally hot, shining brightly in ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust. This sharp close-up of the dying star's nebula was recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope and is presented here in reprocessed colors. Cutting across a bright cavity of ionized gas, the dust torus surrounding the central star is near the center of this view, almost edge-on to the line-of-sight. Molecular hydrogen has been detected in the hot star's dusty cosmic shroud. NGC 6302 lies about 4,000 light-years away in the arachnologically correct constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius).

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[RocketRon]

And, independently of that, clicking "reprocessed colors" above brings up an image of a blue cat.

What is that all about ?

[Boomer12k]

Just Think. Those processes led to US... our elements... our planet... our star and system... we were a BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY....

:---[===] *

[Ann]

APOD Robot wrote on January 4, 2007:

Left of Gamma Cyg and shaped like two glowing cosmic wings divided by a long dark dust lane, IC 1318's popular name is understandably the Butterfly Nebula.

Ann

[De58te]

And, independently of that, clicking "reprocessed colors" above brings up an image of a blue cat.

What is that all about ?

My guess is that cat is a Russian Blue cat.
Now I have never personally seen a Russian Blue in real life, so I had to look it up in Google Images. Their blue color is more drab. That picture has a bright vibrant blue color so they must have 'reprocessed the color'.

[ta152h0]

We are being " nebulized "

[orin stepanek]

Beautiful Butterfly!

[smitty]

Could anyone please offer a science-based explanation for the apparently more-or-less bi-polar nature of the star's ejected material (as opposed to it being more spherical in nature)? Thanks!

[neufer]

Explanation: The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth's night sky are often named for flowers or insects. Though its wingspan covers over 3 light-years, NGC 6302 is no exception. With an estimated surface temperature of about 250,000 degrees C, the dying central star of this particular planetary nebula has become exceptionally hot, shining brightly in ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust.

<<The spectrum of NGC 6302 shows that its central star is one of the hottest stars in the galaxy, with a surface temperature in excess of 200,000 K, implying that the star from which it formed must have been very large (cf. PG 1159 star). [Parents are strongly cautioned that some of the ultra-violent stellar material may be inappropriate for children under 1159.]>>

[neufer]

Could anyone please offer a science-based explanation for the apparently more-or-less bi-polar nature of the star's ejected material (as opposed to it being more spherical in nature)? Thanks!

Equatorial ejecta runs into "a dense torus of dust" with possibly strong magnetic field lines embedded in it.

That ejecta is either stopped, slowed or deflected pole wards.

[Asterhole]

You can almost hear that star going "ka-blooie!" Except in space no one can hear that...

[smitty]

Art Neuendorffer, thank you for this great reply! It makes sense of what otherwise seemed odd, indeed!

[Chris Peterson]

Could anyone please offer a science-based explanation for the apparently more-or-less bi-polar nature of the star's ejected material (as opposed to it being more spherical in nature)? Thanks!

Although the star itself is (largely) spherically symmetric, keep in mind that physically, the entire system is not. The star has both a spin axis and a magnetic axis. Both play important roles in the initial distribution of material- an asymmetry that can be further emphasized by fluid and electromagnetic interactions within the developing nebula.

[smitty]

Chris Peterson and Art Neuendorffer,
Thanks for your helpful explanations of what's going on here. It leads me to wonder now, however, why we do sometimes see spherical planetary nebulae? Apparently different initial conditions? Can we learn anything worthwhile from comparing these two different varieties of stellar evolution? Don't know, but might be worth looking into? Just asking is all.

[Chris Peterson]

Chris Peterson and Art Neuendorffer,
Thanks for your helpful explanations of what's going on here. It leads me to wonder now, however, why we do sometimes see spherical planetary nebulae? Apparently different initial conditions? Can we learn anything worthwhile from comparing these two different varieties of stellar evolution?

These are all good questions, and they mirror the sort of questions that researchers are asking, and testing with simulations. At this point, there is probably more we don't know about the details of planetary nebula formation than what we do know. We have a solid broad picture, I think. But that's all.

[TGr]

TGr March 8. 2017; 1513;
One beautiful image of an exploding star. It has that Familiar image of magnetic poles blossoming out from the explosion.is the Infra red exposure the reason for the clarity of the image?
TGr.





.

....
....k 9

[youtube][/youtube]

[saturno2]

Beautiful image

Off topic
Well, well
The before system of the image was best, indeed.
Thanks. Now i see the image in Google Chrome.

[Ann]

Chris Peterson and Art Neuendorffer,
Thanks for your helpful explanations of what's going on here. It leads me to wonder now, however, why we do sometimes see spherical planetary nebulae? Apparently different initial conditions? Can we learn anything worthwhile from comparing these two different varieties of stellar evolution? Don't know, but might be worth looking into? Just asking is all.

Art has already answered this one by referring to Wikipedia, but I can't find his post, so I'm repeating what he said here.

Wikipedia wrote:
Starting from the 1990s, Hubble Space Telescope images have revealed many planetary nebulae to have extremely complex and varied morphologies. About one-fifth are roughly spherical, but the majority are not spherically symmetric. The mechanisms that produce such a wide variety of shapes and features are not yet well understood, but binary central stars, stellar winds and magnetic fields may play a role.

Wikipedia wrote:
(...) the majority of (planetary nebulae) belong to just three types: spherical, elliptical and bipolar. Bipolar nebulae are concentrated in the galactic plane, likely produced by relatively young massive progenitor stars; and bipolars in the galactic bulge appear to prefer orienting their orbital axes parallel to the galactic plane.[40] On the other hand, spherical nebulae are likely produced by the old stars similar to the Sun.
...
It has been determined that the more massive stars produce more irregularly shaped nebulae.

So because the Butterfly Nebula is very irregularly shaped, it was likely produced by a relatively massive star. It is possible that 9 solar mass star Bellatrix in Orion will produce a very irregular planetary nebula, if it doesn't explode as a supernova.

Ann

[neufer]

---

So because the Butterfly Nebula is very irregularly shaped, it was likely produced by a relatively massive star. It is possible that Bellatrix in Orion will become such a massive and irregular white dwarf, if it doesn't explode as a supernova.

"Potter, you cannot win against me! I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete!" —Bellatrix Lestrange

[smitty]

Ann, Art, and Chris,
Thanks to all three of you for your very helpful comments! Makes me a wee bit ashamed, however, that I didn't do a little more research (e.g., Wikipedia) before posing my question! Thanks again for your patience and help.

[starsurfer]

---

So because the Butterfly Nebula is very irregularly shaped, it was likely produced by a relatively massive star. It is possible that Bellatrix in Orion will become such a massive and irregular white dwarf, if it doesn't explode as a supernova.

"Potter, you cannot win against me! I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete!" —Bellatrix Lestrange

She seems fun to hang out with.

[Chris Peterson]

She seems fun to hang out with.

Except for that whole Avada Kedavra thing. That will end a date real quick!

[ta152h0]

it would be an adventure to get her in a car, not so much in a pickup truck ( subtle humor here )

[neufer]

She seems fun to hang out with.

Except for that whole Avada Kedavra thing. That will end a date real quick!

• Avada Kedavra (Killing Curse):
  Causes instant, painless death to whomever the curse hits.

<<During an audience interview at the Edinburgh Book Festival (15 April 2004) Rowling said: "Does anyone know where Avada Kedavra came from? It is an ancient spell in Aramaic, and it is the original of Abracadabra, which means 'let the thing be destroyed'. Originally, it was used to cure illness and the 'thing' was the illness, but I decided to make it the 'thing' as in the person standing in front of me. I take a lot of liberties with things like that. I twist them round and make them mine." Rowling's use of this name may have been influenced by Latin cadaver = "corpse".>>

[MarkBour]

I find this image truly sublime. The coloring and the detail of the flows are fantastic! It would make a great poster.

It is my assumption that the imaged clouds of the nebula are mainly composed of material ejected from the star. Or are they by chance, mostly material that was in space near the star that its explosive shock-wave is pushing?