ESA Science & Technology - A selection of Hubble's planetary nebulae

This mosaic shows a selection of stunning images of bipolar planetary nebulae taken by Hubble.

A new study using Hubble observations has found that bipolar planetary nebulae located towards the central bulge of our Milky Way appear to be strangely aligned in the sky — a surprising result given their varied histories. The nebulae shown here were not involved in this new study, but demonstrate the varied forms of these spectacular objects.

• Row 1 (from upper left): NGC 6302, NGC 6881, NGC 5189
• Row 2 (from lower left) : M2-9, Hen 3-1475, Hubble 5

Credit

ESA/Hubble & NASA
NGC 6302: NASA, ESA and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team
NGC 6881: ESA/Hubble & NASA
NGC 5189: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
M2-9: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Vincent Icke (Leiden University, The Netherlands), Garrelt Mellema (Stockholm University), and NASA/ESA
Hen 3-1475: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Hubble 5: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Vincent Icke (Leiden University, The Netherlands), Garrelt Mellema (Stockholm University), and NASA/ESA