Don't you wish you could fly free like this beautiful space butterfly?
These are hard days for the humans of planet Earth, especially those of us who despise inequity and fascism. Wouldn't it be nice, then, if you could flap your brilliantly colored wings and take off into the stars?
The below image, captured by the European Southern Observatory's "Very Large Telescope" (great name) in northern Chile, gives us a look at the vibrant planetary nebula known as NGC 2899. Yeah, I know, it's not a real butterfly. But imagine if. Then go further, and pretend the butterfly is you.
Gorgeous view, right?
The nebula, which was apparently first discovered in 1835, resides in the Vela constellation. It's not especially close to Earth, at 6,500 light-years away, but the prospect of human space travel carrying us even a single light-year isn't really an option at this point.
(A single light year, for those who might not know, is trillions of miles.)
The ESO points out that this newly captured photo is the clearest look we've ever gotten at NGC 2899, and oh how lucky we are. The Very Large Telescope captured the images with help from the FORS instrument, which is basically a very powerful visible light camera.
A nebula like NGC 2899 is an interstellar cloud comprised of various elements and ionized gases. That brilliant array of colors is just how all those little bits and particles look from our extreme distance. Many are formed out of the remnants of an exploding star. No one can say how or why it's shaped like a giant space butterfly, but we can all be thankful for that regardless.
Fly free, pretty space butterfly. Take us with you, please.
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
