It's been a great spacecraft. With the loss of the EUVE, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory will do their part to lessen the spectral void. But unfortunately there is no true replacement mission scheduled to observe in the extreme ultraviolet. To the fine gaze of the Hubble Space Telescope, planetary nebula Menzel 3 looks decidedly ant-like. The separate images used to make this true-color composite were taken in July 1997 and June 1998 using Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2.
North is to the right and east is up.
Courtesy NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team. Click on image for larger view. If it's the first Thursday of the month, it's time for another spectacular image from the Hubble Space Telescope as part of the ongoing Hubble Heritage Project . February's choice selection is a planetary nebula designated Menzel 3 but known more commonly as the Ant Nebula. The gas streaming away from the dying star at the nebula's center produces the unmistakable appearance of an ant.