European Association for Astronomy Education

Source: Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics

Despite numerous attempts by astronomers across the world, the mysterious dying star at the heart of the Bug nebula - one of the brightest and most beautiful of the planetary nebulae - has never been seen before. The first image of the star at the center of the Bug Nebula (NGC 6302) has now been taken by a team of astronomers at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, using the newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope. This star, one of the hottest in the galaxy, has a temperature of about 200,000 Kelvin – 33 times hotter than the Sun – and is at the center of one of the most beautiful planetary nebula in the galaxy.

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Source: EurekAlert

Astronomers have found an additional star located in the Dipper's gripper that is invisible to the unaided eye. Alcor, one of the stars that makes the bend in the Big Dipper's handle has a smaller red dwarf companion orbiting it. Now known as "Alcor B," the star was found with an innovative technique called "common parallactic motion," and was found by members of Project 1640, an international collaborative team that gives a nod to the insight of Galileo Gallilei.

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