This Picture of the Week showcases the emission nebula NGC 2313. The bright star V565 — surrounded by four prominent diffraction spikes — illuminates a silvery, fan-shaped veil of gas and dust, while the right half of this image is obscured by a dense cloud of dust. Nebulae with similar shapes — a star accompanied by a bright fan of gas — were once referred to as cometary nebulae, though the name is no longer used.

The language that astronomers use changes as we become better acquainted with the Universe, and astronomical history is littered with now-obsolete phrases to describe objects in the night sky, such as “spiral nebulae” for spiral galaxies or “inferior planets” for Mercury and Venus.

Credit:

ESA/Hubble, R. Sahai

Coordinates
Position (RA):  	6 58 3.00
Position (Dec):  	-7° 56' 47.54"
Field of view:  	1.59 x 1.49 arcminutes
Orientation:   	North is 50.1° left of vertical

Colours & filters Band	Wavelength	Telescope
Optical           V 	606 nm   	Hubble Space Telescope ACS
Optical           I 	814 nm   	Hubble Space Telescope ACS