Although its name stems from its resemblance to the Owl Nebula in Ursa Major, the Southern Owl Nebula has its own unique qualities. Sure, it’s equally as round and symmetrical, with a diameter of around four light-years across. But its colouring is more blue-tinged, like a big round space bubble just waiting to pop.

Officially known as ESO 378-1, this shimmering orb lies 3500 light-years away in the constellation Hydra. Like all planetary nebulae, the Southern Owl is here for a good time, not for a long time, lasting only a few tens of thousands of years compared to a typical stellar lifetime of several billion years. The best image we have of it was captured by ESO’s Very Large Telescope in northern Chile.