These are hard days for the humans of planet Earth, especially those of us who despise inequity and fascism. Wouldn’t it be nice, then, if you could flap your brilliantly colored wings and take off into the stars?
The below image, captured by the European Southern Observatory’s “Very Large Telescope” (great name) in northern Chile, gives us a look at the vibrant planetary nebula known as NGC 2899. Yeah, I know, it’s not a real butterfly. But imagine if. Then go further, and pretend the butterfly is you.
Image: ESO
Gorgeous view, right?
The nebula, which was apparently first discovered in 1835, resides in the Vela constellation. It’s not especially close to Earth, at 6,500 light-years away, but the prospect of human space travel carrying us even a single light-year isn’t really an option at this point.
(A single light year, for those who might not know, is trillions of miles.)
The ESO points out that this newly captured photo is the clearest look we’ve ever gotten at NGC 2899, and oh how lucky we are. The Very Large Telescope captured the images with help from the FORS instrument, which is basically a very powerful visible light camera.
A nebula like NGC 2899 is an interstellar cloud comprised of various elements and ionized gases. That brilliant array of colors is just how all those little bits and particles look from our extreme distance. Many are formed out of the remnants of an exploding star. No one can say how or why it’s shaped like a giant space butterfly, but we can all be thankful for that regardless.
Fly free, pretty space butterfly. Take us with you, please.