NGC 2346 (2013)

NGC 2346 is another nebula of lepidopteran persuasion. Several nebulas are referred to as butterfly nebulas for their symmetry and structures which appear like spread wings of said insects. Maybe we should pick one to designate as Moth Nebula to help add some variety. I’m sure we could throw in some dragonflies and other insects as well. On that note, a recent discussion at Starship Asterisk caused me to realize planetary nebulas are likened to bugs in many ways.

This nebula almost perfectly fit on the WFPC2 chips. Some dim parts were cut off at the edges but that’s it. I especially like how the PC chip fits unobtrusively into the square corner on the upper central side of the nebula.

Red: hst_07129_05_wfpc2_f658n_wf_sci
Green: hst_07129_05_wfpc2_f656n_wf_sci
Blue: hst_07129_05_wfpc2_f502n_wf_sci

North is NOT up. It’s 38° clockwise from up.

Copyright information:
Hubble data is public domain, but I put a lot of work into combining it into beautiful color images. The minimal credit line should read: NASA / ESA / J. Schmidt

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.