text: The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has released a beautiful photo taken by its Very Large Telescope (VLT) of a planetary nebula called ESO 577-24,which resides approximately 1,400 light-years away from Earth. The FORS2 instrument captured the bright, central star, Abell 36, as well as the surrounding planetary nebula. The red and blue portions of this image correspond to optical emission at red and blue wavelengths, respectively. An object much closer to home is also visible in this image — an asteroid wandering across the field of view has left a faint track below and to the left of the central star. And in the far distance behind the nebula a glittering host of background galaxies can be seen. (Photo/Agencies