Resembling a rippling pool illuminated by underwater lights, the Egg Nebula offers astronomers a special look at the normally invisible dust shells swaddling an aging star. These dust layers, extending over one-tenth of a light-year from the star, have an onionskin structure that forms concentric rings around the star. A thicker dust belt, running almost vertically through the image, blocks off light from the central star. Twin beams of light radiate from the hidden star and illuminate the pitch-black dust, like a flashlight shining in a smoky room.

Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Acknowledgment: W. Sparks (STScI) and R. Sahai (JPL)

• Hubble Heritage Release of Egg Nebula
• The Structure of the Prototype Bipolar Protoplanetary Nebula CRL 2688 (Egg Nebula)
• Imaging of the Egg Nebula (CRL 2688) with WFPC2/HST: A History of AGB/Post-AGB Giant Branch Mass Loss
• Pinpointing the Position of the Post-Asymptotic Giant Branch Star at the Core of RAFGL 2688 Using Polarmetric Imaging with NICMOS