ESO Wide Field Imager: A study in scarlet

This new image from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG /ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile reveals a cloud of hydrogen and newborn stars called Gum 41.

In the middle of this little-known nebula, brilliant hot young stars emit energetic radiation that causes the surrounding hydrogen to glow with a characteristic red hue. 

Credit: ESO

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, a vast cloud that glows in similar bright shades of scarlet.

Mount Stromlo Observatory

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. 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 toofaint for the human eye to see.

Lambda Centauri Nebula

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.

CFH Telescope Image:The Lagoon Nebula, Messier 8

Credit: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum

The Lagoon Nebula, also called Messier 8, lies deeply embedded in the disk of our galaxy. 

Stars form within this giant region, and they gravitationally cluster in the heart of the nebula. 

Ultraviolet radiations from newborn stars ionize hydrogen gas, creating the pink emission.

NASA WISE Image: Lagoon Nebula in Centre of Action

This colourful picture is a mosaic of the Lagoon nebula taken by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.

Normally, you would expect a lagoon to be filled with water, but this nebula is composed of clouds of gas and dust in which new stars are forming.

Also known as Messier 8, or simply M8, the Lagoon nebula is seen here as a large circular cloud in the centre of the image, surrounded by innumerable stars.

This view is looking toward the centre of the Milky Way, which is our home galaxy. Our solar system is located on one of the spiral arms, about halfway out from the centre of the disk-shaped Milky Way galaxy.

When we view the Milky Way from Earth, we are looking into the disk of the galaxy where stars are so numerous that they appear to us as a cloudy band of light stretching across the sky.

The centre of the Milky Way is located in the constellation Sagittarius, which is where the Lagoon nebula can be found. M8 is a favourite target for amateur astronomers because it can be easily seen with binoculars or a small telescope.

Astronomers have identified several different parts of the Lagoon nebula, including M8E, a young stellar object, and the star clusters NGC 6523 and NGC 6530 (sometimes the designation of NGC 6523 is used interchangeably with M8).

At the centre of the Lagoon nebula is the star Herschel 36. Distance measurements to this nebula vary widely, from 4,000 to 6,500 light-years away from Earth. Also included in this image but not classified as part of M8, is another cloud of warm dust and gas, located up and to the right of M8. This cloud is emitting infrared radiation.

All four of WISE's infrared detectors were used to take this image. The colours used represent specific wavelengths of infrared radiation. Blue and blue-green (cyan) represent 3.4- and 4.6-micron light, respectively. These wavelengths are mainly emitted by hot stars within the Milky Way.

Green represents 12-micron light, which is emitted by the warm gas of the nebulae. Red represents the longest-wavelenth, 22-micron light emitted by cooler dust within the nebulae.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

NASA Hubble Image: Lagoon Nebula

Like brush strokes on a canvas, ridges of color seem to flow across the Lagoon Nebula, a canvas nearly 3 light-years wide.

The colours map emission from ionised gas in the nebula were recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Also known as M8, the nebula is a star-forming region in the constellation Sagittarius.

Hubble's remarkably sharp, close-up view reveals undulating shapes sculpted by the energetic light and winds from the region's new born stars. Of course, the Lagoon Nebula is a popular target for earthbound skygazers, too.

Image Credit: NASA

NASA HST Image: Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8)

This image of the Lagoon nebula was taken with the Wide Field Imager at La Silla.

(Image: ESO)

NASA HST Image: The heart of the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8)

The heart of the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8) is pictured in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. Seen as a massive cloud of glowing dust and gas, bombarded by the energetic radiation of new stars, this placid name hides a dramatic reality.

Located 4,000 to 5,000 light-years away, in the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer), Messier 8 is a huge region of star birth that stretches across 100 light-years. Clouds of hydrogen gas are slowly collapsing to form new stars, whose bright ultraviolet rays then light up the surrounding gas in a distinctive shade of red
Picture: NASA / ESA / AFP