This picture shows a planetary nebula NGC 2899 taken by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. This nebula is located in the constellation Vela. It looks like a butterfly flying in space, which is beautifully surrounded by the glowing clouds of hot gas.

Scientists believe that the appearance of NGC 2899 is related to its two central stars. One of the stars blew off its outer layers at the end of its life, and the other star interferes with the gas to form the nearly symmetric two-lobed shape. Among the many planetary nebulae, only 10-20% of them have such bipolar shape, which are some rare treasures in space!

More information: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2012/