The planetary nebula NGC6302 as seen in X-rays!

NGC6302, a planetary nebula, that have been observed both by Chandra (X-rays in magenta colour) and Hubble (optical in red, green & blue colours) space telescopes. Planetary nebulas are a phase that stars like the Sun undergo after they run out of nuclear fuel (as the Sun will billions of years from now). X-rays reveal the hottest and most energetic processes, including shock waves created by rapid winds from the star colliding with slower-moving material that has previously been ejected by the star. Chandra’s exceptional vision in X-rays contributes to the understanding of this brief, yet important, stage of stars’ lives.

(Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/RIT/SAO/J.Kastner; Optical: NASA/ESA/AURA/STScI/Univ. Washington, B.Balick )