Astronomers using the FORS2 instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope have captured a striking new image of the large emission nebula Gum 10.
Gum 10 is located approximately 10,760 light-years away in the southern constellation of Puppis.
Also known as RCW 19, this emission nebula has a diameter of around 155 light-years.
Gum 10 is part of a large molecular cloud and is illuminated by HD 69464, a 4-million-year-old star of O7 type.
The nebula was discovered by the Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum, who in 1955 published a catalogue with more than 80 similar diffuse nebulae.
“The energetic ultraviolet radiation from the hot blue stars in Gum 10 ionize the gas in the nebula, stripping electrons away from their atoms,” ESO astronomers said in a statement.
“When these electrons combine again with the atoms, they emit light at very specific colors or wavelengths.”
“The red shade in this image comes from hydrogen, the most abundant element in the Universe.”
“The dark areas are dense clouds of dust that partially block our view of the objects behind them.”
The new image of Gum 10 was taken with the FOcal Reducer/low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope.
“This image was created as part of the ESO Cosmic Gems program, an outreach initiative to produce images of interesting, intriguing or visually attractive objects using ESO telescopes, for the purposes of education and public outreach,” the astronomers said.
“The program 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.”
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