Shimmering Light in Egg Nebula

1 min read

Monika Luabeya

NASA Hubble Mission Team

Goddard Space Flight Center

This image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope released on Feb. 10, 2026, reveals a dramatic interplay of light and shadow in the Egg Nebula, sculpted by freshly ejected stardust. Located approximately 1,000 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, the Egg Nebula features a central star obscured by a dense cloud of dust — like a “yolk” nestled within a dark, opaque “egg white.”

It is the first, youngest, and closest pre-planetary nebula ever discovered. (A pre-planetary nebula is a precursor stage of a planetary nebula, which is a structure of gas and dust formed from the ejected layers of a dying, Sun-like star. The term is a misnomer, as planetary nebulae are not related to planets.) 

Read more about the Egg Nebula.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, Bruce Balick (UWashington)