Butterfly Nebula

The Butterfly Nebula is designated NGC 6302, also known as the Bug Nebula, and is located in the constellation Scorpius. It is a bipolar planetary nebula, meaning its glowing gas has been ejected in two opposing lobes that create the distinctive butterfly-wing shape seen in telescope images.

The central star of NGC 6302 is one of the hottest known stars in our galaxy, with a surface temperature estimated at approximately 250,000 Kelvin—far hotter than the Sun's roughly 5,800 K. The star is hidden from direct view by a dense torus of equatorial dust that surrounds it.

The Butterfly Nebula is estimated to be roughly 3,400 light-years from Earth, though its precise distance remains uncertain due to the obscuring dust around its central star. This distance places it within our Milky Way galaxy, in the direction of the southern constellation Scorpius.

The Butterfly Nebula can be spotted with a moderate-aperture amateur telescope under dark skies, appearing as a small, faint, slightly bipolar smudge in Scorpius. The dramatic wing structure seen in professional images requires long-exposure astrophotography rather than visual observation.