Close-up: The Lion Nebula—NGC 2392 in Gemini | James Webb Space Telescope

Close-up: The Lion Nebula—NGC 2392 in Gemini | James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged planetary nebula NGC 2392. It is nicknamed the Lion Nebula due to its distinct shape. This near- and mid-infrared composite image reveals the complex structure of the nebula—the remains of a dying star. The stellar core, also known as a white dwarf, is located at the center and looks like the button nose of the lion.

Distance from Earth: 3,000-6,500 light years

The central dying star is so hot that its radiation is “cooking” everything from the inside and producing a bubble of ionized hydrogen gas as it does. The gas bubble, the lion’s “face,” features cavernous shells and rings with tendrils that are expanding and destroying dust upon encounter.

However, not all dust is obliterated from the scene. The lion’s mane is the interior of a dust shell that is being illuminated by the central star’s core. Within the mane compact clumps of dust (red and orange) have managed to survive and are protecting the material that lies behind them. Additional clumps of molecular hydrogen appear yellow.

The Lion Nebula is a snapshot in time. It has taken several thousand years for the gas and dust to be shaped in this way. It continues to change as the star drives away the material. Astronomers estimate NGC 2392 will eventually disperse in about 10,000 years, a relatively short period in astronomical terms.

Image Description: Planetary nebula NGC 2392, also called the Lion Nebula, against the black background of space. The nebula is in the center, circular in shape, and looks like a male lion’s head. In the very center is a small, pinkish-white circle with eight-point diffraction spikes, a white dwarf star. Surrounding the star are light purple-pink cavernous bubbles and shell-like rings. The bubbles and shells collectively form an oval with two small, wide arcs near the top, reminiscent of a lion’s face and its ears. What appears to be extended outward from the lion’s face is a thick ring of purple-blue material. The width of the ring is consistent throughout and resembles a mane. The area closest to the lion’s face looks cloudy, while the edges of the mane look like there are clumps of dust with comet-like tails and strands. In the background are distant galaxies and stars. Galaxies appear as small yellow and orange points of light and others with visible spiral structures. A couple of the stars have diffraction spikes.

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)

Image Processing: A. Pagan (STScI)

Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: Aug. 10, 2026

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