Dark Energy Camera Images Cometary Globule CG 4
This cloudy, ominous structure is CG 4, a cometary globule nicknamed ‘God’s Hand’. CG 4 is one of many cometary globules present within the Milky Way, and how these objects get their distinct form is still a matter of debate among astronomers. This image was captured by the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. In it, the features that classify CG 4 as a cometary globule are hard to miss. Its dusty head and long, faint tail vaguely resemble the appearance of a comet, though they have nothing in common. Astronomers theorize that cometary globules get their structure from the stellar winds of nearby hot, massive stars.
Credit:CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab)
About the Image
Id: | noirlab2412a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | May 6, 2024, 1:36 p.m. |
Related releases: | noirlab2412 |
Size: | 20978 x 15958 px |
About the Object
Name: | CG4 |
Distance: | 1300 light years |
Constellation: | Puppis |
Category: | Stars |
Image Formats
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 7 32 32.68 |
Position (Dec): | -47° 0' 17.74" |
Field of view: | 94.40 x 71.81 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 0.0° left of vertical |
Colors & filters
Band | Wave-length | Tele-scope |
---|---|---|
Optical g | 473 nm | Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope DECam |
Optical i | 784 nm | Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope DECam |
Optical N662 | 662 nm | Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope DECam |