NGC 6302 is one of the highest ionization planetary nebulae known and shows emission from species with ionization potential > 300eV .
The temperature of the central star must be > 200 000 K to photoionize the nebula , and has been suggested to be up to \sim 400 000 K. On account of the dense dust and molecular disc , the central star has not convincingly been directly imaged until now .
NGC 6302 was imaged in six narrow band filters by Wide Field Camera 3 on HST as part of the Servicing Mission 4 Early Release Observations .
The central star is directly detected for the first time , and is situated at the nebula centre on the foreground side of the tilted equatorial disc .
The magnitudes of the central star have been reliably measured in two filters ( F469N and F673N ) .
Assuming a hot black body , the reddening has been measured from the ( 4688-6766Å ) colour and a value of c=3.1 , A _ { v } =6.6 mag determined .
A G-K main sequence binary companion can be excluded .
The position of the star on the HR diagram suggests a fairly massive PN central star of about 0.64 M _ { \odot } close to the white dwarf cooling track .
A fit to the evolutionary tracks for ( T,L,t ) = ( 200 000 K , 2000 L _ { \odot } , 2200 yr ) , where t is the nebular age , is obtained ; however the luminosity and temperature remain uncertain .
The model tracks predict that the star is rapidly evolving , and fading at a rate of almost 1 % per year .
Future observations could test this prediction .