NGC 7662 is commonly know as the Blue Snowball Nebula and lies in the constellation of Andromeda. The distance to this striking planetary nebula is not precisely known, with estimates ranging from 1,800 to 5,000 light years. The central star is a white dwarf with a calculated surface temperature of approximately 75,000 kelvin. The distinctly blue color of the nebula is from oxygen that has been excited by strong ultraviolet radiation from the central star. The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image using its Planetary Camera which is part of the WFPC2 instrument.
1Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, and obtained from the Hubble Legacy Archive, which is a collaboration between the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI/NASA), the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF/ESA) and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC/NRC/CSA).