Diana Battefeld, Butterfly, 2015 [Oil on Canvas]

The painting above is that of the planetary nebula, NGC 6302, also known the Butterfly or Bug nebula. Nebulae such as these were most likely what Hubble mistook for galaxies. This object is located within our own galaxy, about 3 800 light-years away. Planetary nebulae are the remnants of dying stars that eject gases and ultraviolet radiation. The temperature of the depicted nebula is around 36 000 degrees Fahrenheit.  The central star, a white dwarf, was once a star five times the size of our sun. This central star is not visible, but it is located within the dark brown  ring at the center of the object; its temperature is estimated to be 400 000 degrees Fahrenheit, one of the hottest objects in our galaxy. The colors represent the following gas ejections: red outer rims of the nebula is light emitted by Nitrogen, the coolest emitted gas. The white regions signify Sulfur emission, Cyan represents Oxygen, Blue means Helium emission, violet symbolizes Nitrogen discharge, and brown shows [latex]H_{\alpha} [/latex]. Once again, this is a false color image. Find out more about the physics of Nebulae and how to paint nebulae at Horizon Crosing