My holiday offering for 2024 is the Butterfly Nebula in the Sadr region of the sky – not to be confused with NGC 6302 – a planetary nebula that also looks like a butterfly. I photographed this area back in June, but because I was centered on the big star Sadr, I only captured the tail of the butterfly. Here you can see the insect in its full glory. The dark nebula running up the middle forms the butterfly’s body, with the bright wings stretching out to the sides, showing up in a sort of teal color. The dark nebulae essentially consist of opaque clouds that obscure whatever is behind – making them look like spooky black voids in space. The stars that seem to be suspended in these voids are in fact closer to us, in front of the dark clouds. Such is the case with astronomical photos that it’s difficult to appreciate the three dimensional aspect of what we are seeing, because everything is flattened into a 2D image.
As you examine this region, most of the bright visual stuff is emission nebula – so called because it consists of gas that emits light when it is irradiated. There are also the dark nebulae mentioned above, which are the inky black areas in the center. I am a big fan of the clumps, filaments and globules which are indicative of star formation, and as a bonus I was delighted to see some lovely star clusters visible here too, distributed around the nebula like colorful glistening pearls, and more than a match for any holiday decorations!
