New ESO image captures a dark wolf in the sky

For Halloween, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is showing this eerie image of a dark nebula that creates the illusion of a wolf silhouette against a colorful cosmic background. Appropriately nicknamed the Dark Wolf Nebula, it was captured in a 283-million-pixel image by the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.

The Dark Wolf Nebula, discovered in the constellation Scorpio, near the center of the Milky Way in the sky, is located approximately 5,300 light-years from Earth. This image covers an area of ​​the sky equal to four full moons, but is actually part of an even larger nebula called Gum 55. If you look closely, the wolf may even be a werewolf, its arms ready to grab unsuspecting passersby…

If you thought darkness equaled emptiness, think again. Dark nebulae are cold clouds of cosmic dust so dense that they block out the light of stars and other objects behind them. As their name suggests, they do not emit visible light, unlike other nebulae. The dust grains inside them absorb visible light and only transmit radiation with a longer wavelengthlike infrared light. Astronomers study these clouds of frozen dust because they often contain new stars in the process of formation.

Of course, it is only possible to trace the ghostly presence of a wolf in the sky because it contrasts with a bright background. This image shows in striking detail how the dark wolf stands out against the glowing star-forming clouds behind it. The colorful clouds are composed primarily of hydrogen gas and glow with reddish tones excited by intense ultraviolet radiation from the young stars within them.

Some dark nebulae such as Coalsack Nebulacan be seen with the naked eye – and they play a key role in how indigenous peoples interpret the sky (1) –– but not the Dark Wolf. This image was created using data from VLT Survey Telescopeowned by the National Institute of Astrophysics of Italy (INAF) and hosted on the ESO server. Paranal Observatoryin the Atacama Desert in Chile. The telescope is equipped with a specially designed camera to map the southern sky in visible light.

The image was composed of images taken at different times, each using a filter that allowed a different color of light to pass through. They were all captured during VST photometric Ha survey of the southern galactic plane and bulge (VPHAS+), which has studied about 500 million objects in our Milky Way. Research like this helps scientists better understand the life cycle of stars in our home galaxy, and the resulting data is made publicly available through ESO Science Portal. Explore this treasure trove of data for yourself: who knows what other creepy figures you’ll discover in the dark?

Notes

(1) The Mapuche people of south-central Chile call the Coal Sack Nebula “pozoco” (well), and the Incas called it “yutu” (partridge-like bird).

Additional information

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) enables scientists around the world to unlock the mysteries of the universe for the benefit of all. We design, build and operate world-class ground-based observatories that astronomers use to solve interesting questions and promote interest in astronomy, and promote international collaboration in astronomy. Founded as an intergovernmental organization in 1962, today ESO is supported by 16 member states (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States). Kingdom), as well as the host state of Chile and Australia as a strategic partner. ESO’s headquarters, visitor center and ESO Supernova Planetarium are located near Munich in Germany, and our telescopes are located in Chile’s Atacama Desert, a wonderful location with unique sky viewing conditions. ESO operates three observation posts: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its Very Large Interferometer Telescope, as well as survey telescopes such as VISTA. ESO’s Paranal will also host and operate the Southern Cherenkov Telescopic Array, the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. Together with international partners, ESO operates ALMA on Chajnantor, a facility that observes the sky in the millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. On Cerro Armazones, near Paranal, we are building the “world’s largest sky eye” – ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope. From our offices in Santiago, Chile, we support our activities in the country and engage with Chilean partners and the community.

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Juan Carlos Muñoz Mateos
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Barbara Ferreira
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