We started with 16 nebulae, and now we’re down to just two: the Eagle Nebula and the Butterfly Nebula. In the final round of Nebula March Madness, these two nebulae named for flying critters go head-to-head while those named for mammals and sea creatures watch from the sidelines. Who will win, the birds or the bugs? Vote on Twitter and decide which nebulae is the most stellar (ha.) of them all!

BIRDS vs. BUGS: Eagle Nebula vs. Butterfly Nebula

Distance: 7,000 lightyears

Radius: ~65 lightyears

Type: HII (H+) region

Features: Pillars of Creation

Year discovered: 1745-1746

Discovered by: Jean-Philippe Loys de Chéseaux (Swiss astronomer)

Reported in: list presented to French Academy of Sciences

Distance: 3,400 lightyears

Radius: >1.5 lightyears

Type: Bipolar planetary nebula

Features: Carbonates, crystalline water ice, quartz

Year discovered: before 1888

First studied by: Edward Emerson Barnard (American astronomer)

Reported in: New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (NGC)

If numbers aren’t your thing, here’s a more qualitative breakdown of our two contenders:

Eagle Nebula

Further away

Bigger across

Site of active star formation

Really cool physical features

Discovered earlier

Butterfly Nebula

Closer

Smaller across

Site of aging star

Really cool chemistry

Discovered later