NASA Hubble telescope snaps breathtaking Southern Crab nebula

The Southern Crab Nebula is a cluster of stars whose hourglass-shaped structure makes it a standout nebula in the universe. A red giant star and a white dwarf sit at the center of the nebula, forming a binary star system.

The new images released by NASA show how the red star spews material that is absorbed by the white dwarf. And this leads to what NASA describes as a "gravitational waltz," that forms the distinctive hourglass-like shape.

The European Space Agency (ESA) explained: "When enough of this cast-off material is pulled onto the white dwarf, it too ejects the material outwards in an eruption, creating the structures we see in the nebula.

"Eventually, the red giant will finish throwing off its outer layers, and stop feeding its white dwarf companion.

"Prior to this, there may also be more eruptions, creating even more intricate structures."
The brightest areas can be found at the edges of the nebula, where gas and dust bubbles accumulate. The Southern Crab Nebula is around 7,000 ight years away from our planet and is located in the Centaurus constellation.

The nebula was first chronicled in 1967, and at the time it was assumed to be an ordinary star. However, after 10 years, Hubble telescope got their first full view of the Southern Crab's structure.

The ESA said: "This image revealed the inner nested structures, suggesting that the phenomenon that created the outer bubbles had occurred twice in the (astronomically) recent past."