Close-up: The Crystal Ball Nebula—NGC 1514 in Taurus | Gemini North Telescope

Close-up: The Crystal Ball Nebula—NGC 1514 in Taurus | Gemini North Telescope

The 8.1-meter Gemini North telescope, located on the summit of Maunakea in Hawai‘i, has captured NGC 1514, nicknamed the Crystal Ball Nebula, in awe-inspiring detail. This nebula, with its mesmerizing glow of gas, harbors hints of a past stellar death, and its asymmetrical shell is now being shaped by the binary pair that lies at its center. It was discovered by William Herschel on November 13, 1790. This planetary nebula has been studied by astronomers since the late 1700s. Astronomer William Herschel noted that NGC 1514 was the first deep sky object to appear genuinely cloudy—he could not resolve what he saw into individual stars within a cluster, like other objects he cataloged.

NGC 1514 lies in the Taurus constellation approximately 1,500 light-years from Earth.

Gemini North is one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by NSF NOIRLab.

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), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: May 21, 2026

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