New images from the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed NGC 6537, the Red Spider Nebula in unprecedented detail, complete with sprawling legs, a glowing heart, and possibly a hidden companion lurking at its core.

NGC 6537, to use its official name, was designated as the 6,537th object in the New General Catalogue, and it's classed as a planetary nebula, though it has nothing to do with planets.

These structures form during a star's dying act, when stars like our Sun exhaust their fuel and swell into red giants.

Eventually, the outward-pushing thermonuclear force overcomes the force of gravity and they shed their outer layers, exposing the core. Ultraviolet radiation from this exposed stellar heart makes the ejected material glow, creating the luminous structures we observe.

It's

See Full Page