M2-9 is a rather unique planetary nebula known as a bipolar nebula due to the nubulous material being ejected in two opposite directions, seen as perpendicular from earth. This phenomena is believed to be caused by the central star (once a red giant, now on it's way to becoming a white dwarf) to be a part of a binary system, the other star being much smaller and in very close orbit. The image was taken with the Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 using four narrow-band filters (F631N - Blue, F656N - Green, F658N -Red, and F673N - Red) in August of 1998 and retrieved from the Hubble ESO/ST-ECF Archive.

Credit: Danny LaCrue & the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator

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