Planetary Nebula M2-9

The Butterfly Nebula, also known as M2 -9 is known, is a galactic planetary nebula in the constellation Ophiuchus, and is about 2,100 light-years away from Earth. The planetary nebula was discovered in 1947 by German - American astronomers Rudolph Minkowski. Images from the Hubble Space Telescope from 1997 reveal fine gas structures that remove at a speed of over 1600 km / s from the star.