Amateur astronomers named the Bug Nebula (NGC 6302) for its insectlike shape. But because the Bug’s apparent size is only 2′, that shape is all they saw. Recent pictures taken with the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed much more detail. Now NGC 6302 is often called the Butterfly Nebula.
Whatever name you give it, NGC 6302 is on a number of top 10 lists — no surprise, considering its visual magnitude of 10.1 makes it one of the brightest planetary nebulae known. It’s also a