A reverse image search using Google Lens found that the image was in fact the work of astrophotographer Jason Guenzel, who shared it in an Instagram post (archived) on January 12, 2021.

Astronomers have taken the first close-up image of a star beyond our galaxy, and it’s a “monster star” surrounded by a cocoon as it slowly dies.

Astronomers have taken the first close-up image of a star outside our galaxy. Credit: ESO / K. Ohnaka et al. Astronomers have been able to look at the sun and a handful of other stars in the Milky ...