The star formation region NGC 2035 imaged by the ESO Very Large Telescope
The star formation region NGC 2035 in the constellation of Dorado
Wide-field view of part of the Large Magellanic Cloud
Videos
The Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the closest galaxies to our own. Astronomers have now used the power of ESO’s Very Large Telescope to explore one of its lesser known regions. This new image shows clouds of gas and dust where hot new stars are being born and are sculpting their surroundings into odd shapes. But the image also shows the effects of stellar death — filaments created by a supernova explosion.
Located only about 160 000 light-years from us (eso1311)
in the constellation of Dorado (The Swordfish), the Large Magellanic
Cloud is one of our closest galactic neighbours. It is actively forming
new stars in regions that are so bright that some can even be seen from
Earth with the naked eye, such as the Tarantula Nebula (eso1033).
This new image, taken by ESO’s Very Large Telescope at the Paranal
Observatory in Chile, explores an area called NGC 2035 (right),
sometimes nicknamed the Dragon’s Head Nebula.
NGC 2035 is an HII region, or emission nebula, consisting of clouds
of gas that glow due to the energetic radiation given off by young
stars. This radiation strips electrons from atoms within the gas, which
eventually recombine with other atoms and release light. Mixed in with
the gas are dark clumps of dust that absorb rather than emit light,
creating weaving lanes and dark shapes across the nebula.
The filamentary shapes to the left in the image are the not the
results of starbirth, but rather stellar death. It was created by one of
the most violent events that can happen in the Universe — a supernova
explosion [1].
These explosions are so bright that they often briefly outshine their
entire host galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months
(also see eso1315 and potw1323a).
From looking at this image, it may be difficult to grasp the sheer
size of these clouds — they are several hundred light-years across. And
they are not in our galaxy, but far beyond. The Large Magellanic Cloud
is enormous, but when compared to our own galaxy it is very modest in
extent, spanning just 14 000 light-years — about ten times smaller than
the Milky Way.
This image was acquired using the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph instrument
attached to ESO’s Very Large Telescope, which is located at the Paranal
Observatory in Chile, as part of the ESO Cosmic Gems programme [2].
Notes
[1] The remnant left over by the supernova explosion that can be seen in this image is called SNR 0536-67.6.
[2] The ESO Cosmic Gems programme is an
initiative to produce images of interesting, intriguing or visually
attractive objects using ESO telescopes, for the purposes of education
and public outreach. The programme makes use of telescope time that
cannot be used for science observations. All data collected may also be
suitable for scientific purposes, and are made available to astronomers
through ESO’s science archive.
More information
ESO is the foremost intergovernmental
astronomy organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive
ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It is supported by 15
countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark,
France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious
programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful
ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make
important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in
promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO
operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla,
Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large
Telescope, the world’s most advanced visible-light astronomical
observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and
is the world’s largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is
the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in
visible light. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary
astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in
existence. ESO is currently planning the 39-metre European Extremely
Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become “the
world’s biggest eye on the sky”.
Links
Contacts
Richard HookESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6655
Cell: +49 151 1537 3591
Email: rhook@eso.org
