Current:Home > InvestTelescope images reveal 'cloudy, ominous structure' known as 'God's Hand' in Milky Way -NextWave Wealth Hub
Telescope images reveal 'cloudy, ominous structure' known as 'God's Hand' in Milky Way
View
Date:2025-04-17 19:10:36
An interstellar structure known as “God’s Hand” can be seen reaching across the cosmos toward a nearby spiral galaxy in stunning new images captured by the powerful Dark Energy Camera.
The "cloudy, ominous" cometary globule located 1,300 light-years from Earth in the Puppis constellation resembles something of "a ghostly hand," said the National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab.) While officially known as CG 4, its distinctive shape is what lends the structure its divine nickname.
NOIRLab, a federally-funded research and development center, released images of "God's Hand" earlier this week along with an explanation of why observing phenomenon is so awe-inspiring and rare for astronomers.
Black hole simulation:NASA shows what it would be like to fall into black hole
What are cometary globules?
Cometary globules are a type of dark nebula – interstellar clouds containing a high concentration of dust – known as Bok globules. These isolated clouds of dense cosmic gas and dust are surrounded by hot, ionized material.
Their name notwithstanding, cometary globules have nothing to do with actual comets other than that their extended tails are quite comet-esque.
How these objects get their distinctive form is still a matter of debate among astronomers, NOIRLab said.
'God's Hand' appears to be reaching for ESO galaxy
The new image of the glowing red structure resembling a ghostly hand is CG 4 – one of many cometary globules present within the Milky Way.
The end of the structure, which could better be described as a claw rather than a hand, is 1.5 light-years across, NOIRLab said. Its tail, or arm, stretches another 8 light years – making CG 4 a comparatively small Bok globule.
The tiny, disc-shaped spec that the claw appears to be reaching for in the image is a spiral galaxy known as ESO 257-19 (PGC 21338). Fortunately for ESO, the galaxy is in fact located a safe distance of more than 100 million light-years away from the menacing grasp of "God's Hand."
Astronomers have observed these structures throughout the Milky Way, but the overwhelming majority of them, including CG 4, are found within the Gum Nebula. Believed to be the expanding remains of a supernova that took place about a million years ago, the Gum Nebula is a huge patch of glowing gas containing at least 31 cometary globules in addition to CG 4, NOIRLab said..
The camera that capture the image is mounted on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.
Cometary globules first discovered in 1976
The first cometary globules were first discovered in 1976 from images captured by the UK Schmidt Telescope in Australia. The reason the structures were able to go undetected for so long is because these cosmic phenomena are so faint and typically shrouded from the view of cameras and telescopes by stellar dust.
But with its Hydrogen-Alpha filter, the Dark Energy Camera was able to pick up a faint red glow of ionized hydrogen. The light is produced when hydrogen becomes energized by radiation from nearby hot, massive stars.
Ironically, that same intense radiation is gradually destroying the head of the globule and sweeping away the tiny particles that scatter the starlight, astronomers say.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
veryGood! (77178)
Related
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- Everwood Actor John Beasley Dead at 79
- WHO says aspartame is a 'possible carcinogen.' The FDA disagrees
- Maryland to Get 25% of Electricity From Renewables, Overriding Governor Veto
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- For Emergency Personnel, Disaster Planning Must Now Factor in Covid-19
- New York AG: Exxon Climate Fraud Investigation Nearing End
- The Polls Showed Democrats Poised to Reclaim the Senate. Then Came Election Day.
- South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
- Tribe Says Army Corps Stonewalling on Dakota Access Pipeline Report, Oil Spill Risk
Ranking
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Prominent billionaire James Crown dies in crash at Colorado racetrack
- Solar Job Growth Hits Record High, Shows Economic Power of Clean Energy, Group Says
- Queer Eye's Tan France Welcomes Baby No. 2 With Husband Rob France
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- No Matter Who Wins, the US Exits the Paris Climate Accord the Day After the Election
- Channing Tatum Shares Lesson He Learned About Boundaries While Raising Daughter Everly
- American Climate Video: In Case of Wildfire, Save Things of Sentimental Value
Recommendation
EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
How to start swimming as an adult
Man, teenage stepson dead after hiking in extreme heat through Texas's Big Bend National Park
Girlfriend of wealthy dentist Lawrence Rudolph, who killed his wife on a safari, gets 17 year prison term
Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
Transcript: Cindy McCain on Face the Nation, June 25, 2023
No Matter Who Wins, the US Exits the Paris Climate Accord the Day After the Election
Disappearance of Alabama college grad tied to man who killed parents as a boy