Credit: Mark McCaughrean (Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy), C. Robert O'Dell (Rice University), and NASA/ESA

This image was taken through a different filter, which blocks any bright spectral emission lines from the nebula, and hence the disk itself is less distinctly silhouetted against the background. However, clearly visible in this image are nebulosities above and below the plane of the disk; these betray the presence of the otherwise invisible central star, which cannot be seen directly due to dust in the edge-on disk.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/1995/news-1995-45

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: http://hubblesite.org/copyright/