A telescope in Chile has snapped striking new images of an ethereal nebula 1,200 light-years from Earth with a rarely seen structure and a curious resemblance to a English toby jug.
The European Southern Observatory unveiled the new image on Wednesday (Oct. 9) to showcase dazzling arcs of the nebula IC 2220 - nicknamed the Toby Jug Nebula - as seen by the observatory's Very Large Telescope. Researchers also used the telescope images from video tour of the nebula, which has a nearly symmetrical butterfly-like structure nearly a light-year wide. That structure is rare, ESO officials said, and is created by a short-lived phase of the star at the nebula's heart.
"ESO's Very Large Telescope has captured a remarkably detailed image of the Toby Jug Nebula, a cloud of gas and dust surrounding a red giant star," ESO officials wrote in an image description. "This view shows the characteristic arcing structure of the nebula, which, true to its name, does indeed look a little like a jug with a handle."
Source:http://www.space.com
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