NASA / ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope captures what appears to be two lobes, classified as NGC 2371 and NGC 2372, that formed when a Sun-like star reached the end of its life. It’s sometimes referred together as NGC 2371/2, located 4,300 light-years from Earth in the constellation Gemini.
What you’re looking at is what happened when the dying star blasted off its outer layers, shedding the constituent material and pushing it out into space to leave just a superheated stellar remnant behind. This remnant can be seen as the bright star at the center of the frame, sitting comfortably between the two lobes. The lobes are filled with dense knots of gas, fast-moving jets that are seemingly changing direction over time, as well as expanding clouds of material streaming outwards on diametrically opposite sides of the remnant star.
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Patches of this scene glow brightly as the remnant star emits energetic radiation that excites the gas within these regions, causing it to light up. This scene will continue to change over the next few thousand years. Eventually the knotty lobes will dissipate completely, and the remnant star will cool and dim to form a white dwarf,” said the NASA Hubble Mission Team.
