Chilean Students Select Cosmic Butterfly to Celebrate 25 Years of Gemini South Telescope

Marking 25 years since the International Gemini Observatory reached full operations, students from Chile selected the captivating Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302) as the featured image for the Gemini South telescope. Situated atop Cerro Pachn and managed by NSFs NOIRLab, the 8.1-meter telescope captured a spectacular new view of the wing-shaped planetary nebula through the Gemini First Light Anniversary Image Contest.

The contest invited young participants from the observatorys host communities in Chile and Hawaii to choose a celestial object that reflects the observatorys 25-year legacy, with Gemini South having first observed the skies in November 2000. Officially cataloged as NGC 6302 and popularly called the Butterfly Nebula or Bug Nebula, this striking bipolar nebula lies approximately 2,5003,800 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.

Although first observed in 1826, it is often attributed to Edward Emerson Barnard in 1907. Its unique winged shape originates from a dying central star. This star, now an extremely hot white dwarf with a surface temperature surpassing 250,000C, was formerly a massive red giant that expelled its outer layers violently. Slower-moving gas created a dark equatorial disk, while faster ejections from the poles formed the twin lobes that give the nebula its butterfly-like appearance.

The new Gemini South image vividly displays glowing hydrogen in deep red and ionized oxygen in bright blue, revealing complex ridges and pillars sculpted by interactions between slow and fast stellar winds. The central white dwarf continues to illuminate the surrounding gas with intense ultraviolet radiation, making the nebula shine and enriching interstellar space with heavy elements that will contribute to future stars and planets.

Captured as part of NOIRLabs ongoing Legacy Imaging Program, this striking image not only commemorates Gemini Observatorys scientific achievements but also motivates aspiring astronomers in Chile and Hawaii to pursue a future in space exploration.

Author: Sophia Brooks