NGC 6302, more romantically known as the Butterfly Nebula, was chosen by Chilean schoolchildren as the latest subject for observation by the Gemini South telescope there. The resulting image, released by the National Science Foundation's NoirLab, is the most detailed image of it yet. The nebula is 2,500 to 3,800 light years from Earth and made of the matter of the white dwarf star at its center, casting off gases to form winglike shapes light-years across.

Sources report various dates of discovery, but credit typically goes to a 1907 study by American astronomer Edward E. Barnard, though Scottish astronomer James Dunlop may have discovered it in 1826. Its official name is NGC 6302, but it is also referred to as the Butterfly Nebula, Bug Nebula, or Caldwell 69. … In 2009, the Wide Field Ca

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