This is the planetary nebula "EGB 6", about 2,400 light-years away in the direction of "Leo". Planetary nebulae are nebulae thought to have formed during the evolution of relatively lightweight stars (less than 8 times the mass of the Sun), such as the Sun, which do not explode as supernovae.

When a star like the Sun evolves from a main sequence star to a red giant, it releases gas from its outer layers into its surroundings. When a star loses its gas and changes from a red giant to a white dwarf, the ultraviolet light emitted by the star ionizes the surrounding gas and emits light, which is then observed as a nebula. This type of nebula is still called a "planetary" nebula because it is a remnant of what looked like planets in old telescopes.

A dying star depicts a planetary nebula that was a transient object in the long history of the universe. This is because as the surface temperature of a star that evolves into a white dwarf decreases, the brightness of the gas also decreases. According to images released by the National Institute of Optical and Infrared Astronomy (NOIRLab) of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the stars that create planetary nebulae live between 30 and 10 billion years, and it is planetary. The nebula is said to have a lifespan of about 20,000 years.

The opening image was taken by the 4 m diameter Earth-Long Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in the United States and released by NOIRLab on April 13, 2022. This image was created from an image taken using a dichroic filter, with light blue corresponding to the distribution of oxygen and orange to the distribution of hydrogen.