The star formation region Gum 41 in the constellation of Centaurus
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This new image from ESO’s La Silla
Observatory in Chile reveals a cloud of hydrogen called Gum 41. In the
middle of this little-known nebula, brilliant hot young stars are giving
off energetic radiation that causes the surrounding hydrogen to glow
with a characteristic red hue.
This area of the southern sky, in the constellation of Centaurus (The
Centaur), is home to many bright nebulae, each associated with hot
newborn stars that formed out of the clouds of hydrogen gas. The intense
radiation from the stellar newborns excites the remaining hydrogen
around them, making the gas glow in the distinctive shade of red typical
of star-forming regions. Another famous example of this phenomenon is
the Lagoon Nebula (eso0936), a vast cloud that glows in similar bright shades of scarlet.
The nebula in this picture is located some 7300 light-years from
Earth. Australian astronomer Colin Gum discovered it on photographs
taken at the Mount Stromlo Observatory near Canberra, and included it in
his catalogue of 84 emission nebulae,
published in 1955. Gum 41 is actually one small part of a bigger
structure called the Lambda Centauri Nebula, also known by the more
exotic name of the Running Chicken Nebula (another part of which was the
topic of eso1135). Gum died at a tragically early age in a skiing accident in Switzerland in 1960.
In this picture of Gum 41, the clouds appear to be quite thick and
bright, but this is actually misleading. If a hypothetical human space
traveller could pass through this nebula, it is likely that they would
not notice it as — even at close quarters — it would be too faint for
the human eye to see. This helps to explain why this large object had to
wait until the mid-twentieth century to be discovered — its light is
spread very thinly and the red glow cannot be well seen visually.
This new portrait of Gum 41 — likely one of the best so far of this
elusive object — has been created using data from the Wide Field Imager
(WFI) on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in
Chile. It is a combination of images taken through blue, green, and red
filters, along with an image using a special filter designed to pick out
the red glow from hydrogen.
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
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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
- Photos of the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
- Photos from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
- Photos of La Silla
Contacts
Richard HookESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6655
Cell: +49 151 1537 3591
Email: rhook@eso.org
