Depiction of the bipolar planetary nebula by the Hubble telescope.

About 32,000 light-years from Earth is a bipolar planetary nebula, known as M1-63, located in the small southern constellation of Scutum.

Astronomers believe that such a nebula is formed when the star in its center sheds a large amount of material from its outer layers, leaving a brilliant cloud of gas and dust. At the center of the dipole nebula is a binary system of stars, capable of forming butterfly-like shapes.

This is because the material of the shedding star is funneled towards its poles, with the help of a companion, the nebula forms a typical double-lobed structure, such as M1-63.

NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope filters image M1-63 through F200W, F350W, F502W, and F814w, new image of M1-63 shows ultraviolet, near-infrared and optical parts of the spectrum in Hubble’s wide field. This is illustrated with the help of Camera 3 (WFC3) comments.