Current:Home > StocksTelescope images reveal 'cloudy, ominous structure' known as 'God's Hand' in Milky Way -Wealth Empowerment Academy
Telescope images reveal 'cloudy, ominous structure' known as 'God's Hand' in Milky Way
View
Date:2025-04-15 18:33:52
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 [email protected]
veryGood! (51)
Related
- Kansas City Chiefs CEO's Daughter Ava Hunt Hospitalized After Falling Down a Mountain
- Woman convicted of killing pro cyclist Anna ‘Mo’ Wilson gets 90 years in prison. What happened?
- Rio’s iconic Christ statue welcomes Taylor Swift with open arms thanks to Swifties and a priest
- The Excerpt podcast: Body of Israeli abducted in Hamas rampage found
- A Georgia governor’s latest work after politics: a children’s book on his cats ‘Veto’ and ‘Bill’
- Maren Morris clarifies she's not leaving country music, just the 'toxic parts'
- Blinken calls U.S.-China relationship one of the most consequential in the world
- NFL host Charissa Thompson says on social media she didn’t fabricate quotes by players or coaches
- 'As foretold in the prophecy': Elon Musk and internet react as Tesla stock hits $420 all
- Amazon lays off hundreds in its Alexa division as it plows resources into AI
Ranking
- 9/11 hearings at Guantanamo Bay in upheaval after surprise order by US defense chief
- The story behind Omaha's rainbow house could make you watch what you say to your neighbors
- K-Pop star Rose joins first lady Jill Biden to talk mental health
- Is Thanksgiving officially out? Why Martha Stewart canceled her holiday dinner
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- Rio’s iconic Christ statue welcomes Taylor Swift with open arms thanks to Swifties and a priest
- Joe Burrow is out for the rest of the season with a torn ligament in his throwing wrist, Bengals say
- Why is there lead in some applesauce? FDA now screening cinnamon imports, as authorities brace for reports to climb
Recommendation
What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
'I got you!' Former inmate pulls wounded Houston officer to safety after shootout
Lobsterman jumps from boat to help rescue driver from stolen car sinking in bay
Honda recalls nearly 250K vehicles because bearing can fail and cause engines to run poorly or stall
Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
Why is there lead in some applesauce? FDA now screening cinnamon imports, as authorities brace for reports to climb
Advertiser exodus grows as Elon Musk's X struggles to calm concerns over antisemitism
Drake's new EP features song praising Taylor Swift