Red Square Nebula

If symmetry is a sign of splendor, then the newly discovered Red Square nebula is one of the most beautiful objects in the universe.

Seen in the infrared, the nebula resembles a giant, glowing red box in the sky, with a bright white inner core. A dying star called MWC 922 is located at the system's center and spewing its innards from opposite poles into space. (A nebula is an interstellar cloud of gas, dust and plasma where stars can both emerge and die.)

"This spectacular event is the death of a star," said study team member James Lloyd of Cornell University.

  Read about it in Space.com.

Image credit: Peter Tuthill, Palomar and Keck Observatories