Posted: 16:23, November 11, 2022 | Updated: 16:24, 11 November 2022
Advertising A haunting image of the Cone Nebula, a star-forming region in the Milky Way galaxy about 2,500 light-years from Earth, makes it look like a mythological creature. The image, taken by the European Space Observatory’s telescopes earlier this year, shows the nebula’s darker and hazier appearance in a way that makes it look quite mysterious. The seven-light-year-long pillar of the Cone Nebula is part of a region called NGC 2264 and was first discovered in the late 18th century by astronomer William Herschel. The unique shape of the Cone Nebula is due to the giant clouds of cold molecular gas and dust known to form new stars. A haunting image of the Cone Nebula, a star-forming region about 2,500 light-years from Earth, makes it look like a mythological creature This zoomed-out image from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) shows the region of sky around the Cone Nebula This still image from the ESO video starts from our position in the galaxy, showing our Milky Way’s stellar and dusty belt, before later zooming into the Cone Nebula This pillar formation occurs when “large, newly formed bright blue stars emit stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation that remove material from the surrounding region,” ESO explains. “As this material drifts away, the gas and dust further away from the young stars are compressed into dense, dark and tall pillar-like shapes.” This process helps create the dark cone nebula, which points away from the bright stars in NGC 2264. The image was taken with two instruments on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, the world’s most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory located in Chile. Using these two filters makes the bright blue stars—recent star formation—appear almost golden, in contrast to the sparkler-like dark cone. Although this particular nebula has been studied in the past, the new image depicts it in a much more dramatic way. This nebula can be found in the sky in the constellation Monoceros (The Unicorn). ESO released the image as part of its 60th anniversary and for education and information purposes. On October 5, 1962, five countries signed a convention to establish the observatory. Now the scientific venture is supported by 16 member states and strategic partners. The image was taken with two instruments on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, the world’s most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory located in Chile This nebula can be found in the sky in the constellation Monoceros (The Unicorn), as shown above in a still image from the ESO video This diagram shows the position of the Cone Nebula in the constellation Monoceros (The Unicorn), in red. The map shows most stars visible to the naked eye under good conditions
