The Abyssal Spider (Red Spider Nebula)

A sculpture of shockwaves. The Red Spider Nebula is one of the most complex planetary nebulae ever observed. Its two-lobed structure is being inflated by a wind blowing at over 2,000 kilometers per second, generated by one of the hottest stars known to science—a white dwarf hidden in the core.

The 'legs' of the spider are actually ridges of molecular hydrogen, sculpted by this supersonic wind into closed, bubble-like structures. The central 'S-shaped' feature reveals a jet of ionized iron, twisting like a serpent. This is a piece for the bold—a deep, moody, and aggressive visualization of stellar power. The provenance label acknowledges the scientific debate regarding its distance, estimated between 4,000 and 6,000 light-years.

Scientific provenance

Editions

• Fine Art — museum-grade pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Metallic. Numbered edition of 50 per size, with a Numbered Certificate of Authenticity.
• Poster — pigment print on archival photo paper. Open edition.
• Framed or unframed — either edition can be framed in a slim black frame with shatter-resistant acrylic glazing, ready to hang (50 × 50 and 50 × 70 cm). Framed works ship free within the EU; unframed prints ship rolled in a protective tube.

Printed to order in our Vilnius studio on an Epson SureColor P20500 with UltraChrome PRO12 pigment inks, and dispatched within 5–7 business days. Each size is composed for its own proportions: we crop, we never stretch, and we never add or generate image content.

Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. H. Kastner (Rochester Institute of Technology). Licensed under CC BY 4.0; cropped and colour-managed for print. UniverseMuseum is an independent studio and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI or the Rubin Observatory.