Close-up: The Butterfly Nebula in Scorpius | Gemini South Telescope | NOIRLab

Close-up: The Butterfly Nebula in Scorpius | Gemini South Telescope | NOIRLab

To celebrate 25 years since the completion of the International Gemini Observatory, students in Chile voted for the Gemini South telescope to image the NGC 6302—a billowing planetary nebula that resembles a cosmic butterfly. The International Gemini Observatory is partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by NSF NOIRLab.

NGC 6302 is a bipolar planetary nebula that lies between 2,500 and 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. Sources report various dates of discovery, but credit typically goes to a 1907 study by American astronomer Edward E. Barnard, though Scottish astronomer James Dunlop may have discovered it in 1826. Its official name is NGC 6302, but it is also referred to as the Butterfly Nebula, Bug Nebula, or Caldwell 69.

A planetary nebula is a type of emission nebula consisting of a massive star near the end of its life that is expelling material, surrounded by an expanding, glowing shell of ionized gas. Typically, these mesmerizing structures have a planet-like round shape. This is why they were named ‘planetary nebulae’ by the early astronomers who observed them through their telescopes.

You may notice, though, that the Butterfly Nebula does not resemble a round planet, but instead a "winged creature caught mid-flight." The formation of this unique structure is driven by a star at the nebula’s center that is casting off layers of gas and dust as it nears the end of its life.

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Image Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 26, 2025

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