It’s time once again for another Where In The Universe Challenge. Test your visual knowledge of the cosmos by naming where in the Universe this image was taken and give yourself extra points if you can name the spacecraft responsible for this picture. Post your guesses in the comments section, and check back on later at this same post to find the answer. To make this challenge fun for everyone, please don’t include links or extensive explanations with your answer. Good luck!
UPDATE: The answer has been posted below:
This is a planetary nebula with some issues, as it is bipolar. M2-9 is a striking example of a ‘butterfly’ nebula. Another more revealing name might be the ‘Twin Jet Nebula,’ as it looks like a pair of exhaust steams from jet engines. The image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and you can get more info on it here from the ESA Hubble website.
Check back next week for another WITU challenge!
I think I saw this flying around in Avatar.
(Filmed in IMAX 3D.)
These kinds of objects aren’t my thing. I could go search and find with relative ease the actual answer (after all, there aren’t that many well-photographed planetary nebulae), but I like doing this off the top of my head, and I got nothing.
It might be a Hubble image, though…
My guess is a planetary nebula, no clue which one, and a Hubble image?
This is the bipolar planetary nebula M2-9 imaged by Hubble. Probably using WFPC2.
It is not a planetary nebulae but the bipolar planetary nebula, M2-9.
It is commonly called the “Minkowski’s Butterfly nebula”, and was discovered by Rudolph Minkowski in the late 1940s. M2-9 lies in the equatorial constellation of Ophiuchus. The image was taken Hubble.
From memory it lies about 650 parsecs away.
@ Jon
The dates and times are the same for our posts.
Drats! It seems mere seconds count here!
Rats! Beaten by Jon and Mr. Crumb, both of whom are correct! Good job, guys! Oh, well. There’s always next week.
@Crumb
I was channeling your post! 🙂
Some planetary nebula
Beaten to the punch. This is Nebula M2-9 from a Hubble image.
LC
It has already been said (rats) but this is the Butterfly Nebula. I have no idea how Nancy got this photo out of my “planetary nebula” photo library.
Planetary Nebula M2-9, in Ophiuchus
taken by HST.
This is a picture of the supersonic exhaust from Nebula M2-9. Astronomers call it “Twin Jet Nebula”. Taken by the Hubble.
The picture was taken by HST and this object is a planetary nebula. It has many names:
>
Minkowski 2-9,
M2-9,
Twin Jet Nebula,
Butterfly Nebula,
Minkowski’s Butterfly,
Wings of a Butterfly Nebula.
It is Minkowski 2-9, the Butterfly Nebula, imaged by HST
M2-9 by Hubble. How’d I know? It’s one of the Hubble images I’ve saved on my computer for the slide show which is my screen saver. Hehehe
I remember the name Butterfly. And I definitely know that it was taken by the Hubble.
It is the Butterfly Planetary Nebula taken by HST
Thought it was called the “water-fountain” nebula?
M2-9, The Wings of a Butterfly Nebula, or Butterfly Nebula, or a few other names. One of my personal favorite objects…