NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope reveals the clearest view yet of the Egg Nebula. This structure of gas and dust was created by a dying, Sun-like star. These newest observations were taken with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3.
NASA, ESA, Bruce Balick (UWashington)
This image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope released on Feb. 10, 2026, reveals a dramatic interplay of light and shadow in the Egg Nebula, sculpted by freshly ejected stardust. Located approximately 1,000 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, the Egg Nebula features a central star obscured by a dense cloud of dust — like a “yolk” nestled within a dark, opaque “egg white.”
It is the first, youngest, and closest pre-planetary nebula ever discovered. (A pre-planetary nebula is a precursor stage of a planetary nebula, which is a structure of gas and dust formed from the ejected layers of a dying, Sun-like star. The term is a misnomer, as planetary nebulae are not related to planets.)
Read more about the Egg Nebula.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, Bruce Balick (UWashington)
NASA哈勃太空望远镜展现了迄今为止最清晰的蛋星云景象。这个由气体和尘埃组成的结构是由一颗垂死的类太阳恒星创造的。这些最新观测结果是由哈勃的第三代广域照相机（Wide Field Camera 3）拍摄的。
图片来源: NASA, ESA, Bruce Balick (UWashington)
这张由NASA哈勃太空望远镜于2026年2月10日发布的图像，揭示了蛋星云中由新抛射出的星尘所雕刻出的极具戏剧性的光影交织。蛋星云位于天鹅座，距离我们约1000光年，其主要特征是一颗被浓密尘埃云遮蔽的中心恒星——宛如一颗包裹在黑暗且不透明的“蛋清”之中的“蛋黄”。
它是迄今为止被人类发现的首个、最年轻且距离最近的前行星状星云。（前行星状星云是行星状星云的前兆阶段，而行星状星云是由垂死的类太阳恒星抛射出的外层物质所形成的气体和尘埃结构。这个术语其实是一个历史遗留的误称，因为行星状星云与行星毫无关联。）
图片来源: NASA, ESA, Bruce Balick (UWashington)
