Hubble Gallery - The Spirograph Nebula

This is a false-colour picture taken by the WFPC2 camera aboard Hubble of the planetary nebula IC418. The star at the centre blew away its outer layers several thousand years ago and the ultra-violet radiation from the dying star is now colliding with the ejected material, causing it to fluoresce.
Pictures taken during 1999 through various filters show the different gases present in the nebula; red represents nitrogen, purple shows hydrogen and blue reveals oxygen.