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FOR RELEASE: April 3, 2003

PHOTO NO.: STScI-PRC03-09


RAINBOW IMAGE OF A DUSTY STAR

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. The artificial "Easter-Egg" colors in this image are used to 
dissect how the light reflects off the smoke-sized dust particles and 
then heads toward Earth.

The Egg Nebula is located 3,000 light-years away in the constellation
Cygnus. This image was taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys
in September and October 2002.

Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Acknowledgment: W. Sparks (STScI) and R. Sahai (JPL)

To see and read more about polarized light images of the Egg Nebula, 
please click on
http://hubblesite.org/news/2003/09
http://heritage.stsci.edu/2003/09

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is operated by the
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), for
NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt,
MD. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and the European Space
Agency (ESA).

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