Capture the cosmos > Stellar evolution > Tales of: A butterfly emerges from stellar demise

Tales of ... A butterfly emerges from stellar demise in planetary nebula See image below

This celestial object looks like a delicate butterfly. But it is far from serene.

What resemble dainty butterfly wings are actually roiling cauldrons of gas heated to more than 20,000 degrees Celsius (36,000 degrees Fahrenheit). The gas is tearing across space at more than 960,000 kilometers per hour (600,000 miles per hour)—fast enough to travel from Earth to the Moon in 24 minutes! (Continued >>)

Portrait of a planetary nebula taken by Wide Field Camera 3, installed during Hubble's Servicing Mission 4

Capture the cosmos > Stellar evolution > Tales of: A butterfly emerges from stellar demise