Washington, US

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope continues to dazzle both astronomers and the public alike, this time with a breathtaking image capturing the ethereal beauty of a Twin Jet Nebula. Shared on social media platforms, the image immediately drew in viewers with its mesmerising hues and details.

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NASA's announcement on social media was with a touch of humour as the space agency captioned the post with, "Twin, where have you been?⁣ ⁣Looking for you, obviously." 

The image revealed something truly extraordinary. Unlike typical planetary nebulas centred around a single star, this nebula boasts not one, but two stars at its core. That is why it is called a bipolar nebula.

One of these stars is a diminutive white dwarf, while its companion is nearing the end of its stellar life.

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NASA in the post wrote, "The two stars circle one another roughly every 100 years. It is believed that the dying star has ejected its outer layers of gas into space and is being pulled into two lobes instead of a sphere."

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"The rotation around one another causes the shape of the wings for this cosmic butterfly. Within the wings are two faint blue patches, which are violent twin jets streaming out into space in a high speed of one million kilometres (621,400 miles) per hour," the space agency added.

The Twin Jet Nebula was captured in vivid detail by the lens of the Hubble Space Telescope. 

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The image description read, "Two-image swipe-through shows two iridescent lobes of material stretch outwards from a central star system. Two stars at the center appearing as one in a white bright beaming color, creating an “x” shaped disc around them."

"Within these lobes two huge jets of gas are streaming from the star system. A green colour takes up the heads of the jets and then a peach colour at the centre where you can see the lobes, towards the tail of the jets is a slight blue colour. The darkness of space takes over the rest of the image with few stars spread throughout the image."

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Shortly after NASA shared the awe-inspiring image on Instagram, it quickly gained traction. It has amassed over four hundred thousand likes within a matter of hours.

Space enthusiasts flooded the comments section with expressions of wonder and awe. Among the myriad reactions, one user marveled, "Wow! Wonderful" while another wrote, "This is beautiful."

On NASA's playful caption, one user said, "I really love when NASA is witty and fun. We need the levity sometimes." "How many light years away is this bipolar nebula?" one questioned. 

(With inputs from agencies)