NASA Shares Fascinating Pics Of Red Spider Nebula, Leaves Internet Awestruck

The Hubble Telescope, which has served as humankind's eye in space, has captured stunning images over the decades. This time, the powerful machine clicked a few pictures of the stunning Red Spider Nebula. Located approximately 3,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius, this planetary nebula is home to one of the most scorching stars in the universe, with surface temperatures reaching as high as 250,000°C (450,000°F).

According to NASA, this intense heat energises the surrounding gas, generating massive shockwaves that stretch an astonishing 62 billion miles (100 billion km) into space. These shockwaves sculpt the nebula's distinctive spider-leg-like arcs, which appear to emanate from the central star.

NASA described the images as, ''Orange waves of hot gas, resembling the curved legs of a black widow spider, surround a pinkish glowing core in this image of a planetary nebula. The background is spotted with white points of light.''

See the images here:

The fascinating images of the ''Cosmic Spider'' have delighted the internet. Shared just a few days ago, the post has already racked up more than 600,000 likes and sparked a frenzy of comments from awestruck users who couldn't get enough of the celestial wonder. 

One user wrote, ''Does this red spider nebula have any other names? Does it have any other origin? Well, this is the only spider I love and am not scared of!''

Another commented, ''WOW....The head and a big eye and the hand...and the leg and the tail in the second pic.....Wonderful what I see.'' A third said, ''Celestial entanglement.'' A fourth added, ''Alright, this is the most beautiful thing I saw today, thank you.''

Yet another stated, ''It feels like looking into the heart of the universe..stunning!''

Hubble is a joint project of the American space agency NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). The telescope, which was launched on April 24, 1990, has made more than 1.4 million observations of nearly 47,000 celestial objects. It was named after American astronomer Edwin P Hubble, who confirmed that our universe was constantly expanding. In its 30-year lifetime, the telescope has racked up more than 175,000 trips around our planet, totalling about 4.4 billion miles.