The image recorded by the telescope and posted on NASA’s official website depicts the star in question, a red giant, rapidly transforming into a planetary nebula by blowing its outer layers of dust and gas into the surrounding space.
Hubble Captures Brilliant Star Death in “Rotten Egg” Nebula
© ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
"The recently ejected material is spat out in opposite directions with immense speed — the gas shown in yellow is moving close to one million kilometers per hour," a statement posted on the website says.
This spectacular demise transpired in the Calabash Nebula (technical name OH 231.84 +4.22), also known as the Rotten Egg Nebula due to a high concentration of sulfur it contains, located some 5,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Puppis.
