CG 4
| Nebula | |
|---|---|
 The image of CG 4 by ESO | |
| Observation data | |
| Distance | 1,300 ly |
| Constellation | Puppis |
| Notable features | 1.5 light-years in diameter (head) and 8 light-years long (tail) |
| Designations | God’s Hand |
CG4 is a star-forming region located in the Puppis constellation, which is about 1,300 light-years away from earth.[1]
Commonly referred to as God’s Hand, it is about 1,300 light years from Earth with its head about 1.5 light-years in diameter, and its tail about eight light-years long.[2]
It is a cometary globule whose one side has been blown outwards into a long tail, resembling a comet and hence named so. CG4, and the nearby cometary globules, generally point away from the Vela supernova remnant, which is in the center of the Gum Nebula. [3]
Discovery
The Schmidt Telescope operated by the Australian Astronomical Observatory in 1976 photographed many objects resembling comets. Due to their peculiar shape resembling comets, they came to be called as cometary globules. Located in an emission nebula of illuminated gas, called the Gum Nebula, the parent nebula of the cometary globule, the globules possess dense and dark disrupted heads and very long tails, which point away from Vela supernova remnant located at the center of the Gum Nebula. As a part of the ESO Cosmic Gems program, European Southern Observatory released an image of CG4 in January 2015 showing the head of the nebula.[4]
Structure
CG4 is composed of very dense and dark matter. Its head resembles a comet having a dusty cavernous mouth as photographed by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in 2015.[5]
The nebular head is an opaque structure. But it glows and is visible due to the illumination by nearby stars whose stellar energy is gradually disintegrating the head of the globule, sweeping away its dust particles and scatter the light to cause the opacity.[6]
But CG4 shows a obscure red glow, possibly from charged hydrogen ions, which apparently is about to destroy an edge-on spiral galaxy nearby (ESO 257-19) located in the upper left corner. In reality, the galaxy is over a hundred million light-years further away from the globule.[7]
References
- ^ "NOAO". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ "Sci-news". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ "D News". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ "ESO". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ "Image of Cometary Globule Marks 1,000 Online at NOAO". National Optical Astronomy Observatory. March 8, 2006. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ "Cnet". Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ "Voice Chronicle". Retrieved January 31, 2015.