Tag Archives: VST

VST Unveils “Cosmic Bat” in the Southern Sky

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Astronomers using ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope have captured a stunning image of a large nebula that strikingly resembles the silhouette of a bat.

This VST image reveals a gaseous cloud formed like a space bat. The vibrant red glow is produced by hydrogen atoms energized by the powerful radiation from young stars within the cloud. Notable features include RCW 94, which makes up the right wing, and RCW 95, which forms the body, though the remaining bat elements lack official designations. Image credit: ESO / VPHAS+ Team / VVV Team.

“Located about 10,000 light-years away, this ‘space bat’ navigates between the southern constellations Circinus and Norma,” ESO astronomers stated.

“It spans an area of the sky equivalent to four full moons, seemingly foraging in the illuminated spots above.”

“This nebula acts as a stellar nursery, a vast area of gas and dust where new stars are born.”

“The young stars emit sufficient energy to excite surrounding hydrogen atoms, causing them to produce the striking red hue evident in this captivating image.”

“The dark filaments of the nebula resemble the skeletal structure of our space bat.”

“These formations accumulate cooler, denser gas compared to their surroundings, with dust particles obstructing visible light from the stars behind.”

“Named for its extensive catalog of bright star-forming regions in the southern sky, the most prominent clouds are RCW94, representing the right side of the bat, and RCW95, forming the body; however, the other parts of the bat remain unnamed.”

This remarkable image was captured by ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

“VST is ideally suited for capturing these large, eerie entities,” astronomers remarked.

“It features OmegaCAM, a cutting-edge 268-megapixel camera, enabling VST to photograph vast sections of the sky.”

“The image is a composite made from observations through various filters that capture different colors and wavelengths of light.”

“Most bat shapes, including the vivid red glow, were recorded in visible light as part of the VST Photometric Hα Survey of the South Galactic Plane and Bulge (VPHAS+).”

“Additional infrared data enhance the coloration of the densest regions within the nebula, obtained with ESO’s Visible Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) as part of the VISTA Variable of the Vía Láctea (VVV) survey.”

“Both surveys are accessible to anyone eager to delve into this limitless expanse of astrophotography.”

Source: www.sci.news

VST documents the unique history of an elliptical galaxy

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A huge elliptical galaxy called the NGC 3640 has interacted with several small galaxies in the past, as revealed by data analysis from ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at a fictional observatory in Chile.

This VST image shows two elliptical galaxies, the NGC 3640 and the NGC 3641. Image credits: ESO/INAF/MIRABILE et al. /Ragusa et al.

NGC 3640 is located approximately 88 million light years away from Earth in the constellation of Leo.

Also known as Leda 34778 and UGC 6368, the galaxies have diameters of 90,000 light years.

It was first discovered on February 23, 1784, by the German-British astronomer William Herschel.

The NGC 3640 is part of a relatively young group consisting of at least eight galaxies.

It also forms a pair that interacts with an elliptical galaxy known as NGC 3641.

“Throughout their extensive lifetimes, galaxies undergo changes,” said Dr. Marco Miraville, a colleague from the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, in a statement.

“As they traverse space, they may either acquire gas or stars from other galaxies, or even merge with them.”

“Following these events, the galaxy will exhibit distortions, as demonstrated by the compact NGC 3640 and the diffuse light surrounding it.”

“This galaxy has left behind a ‘scar’ that hints at a tumultuous history, which astronomers can use to uncover its past and present.”

To unravel the history of the NGC 3640-NGC 3641 pair, Dr. Mirabile and co-authors used VST to study spheroidal, compact clusters of gravitationally bound stars.

These clusters typically contain some of the oldest stars formed within the galaxy, serving as fossil records that reveal the galaxy’s history even after significant events.

“The results affirm that NGC 3640 has indeed interacted with other galaxies in the past, showing signs of previous involvement with the smaller NGC 3641,” noted the astronomer.

“However, the smaller galaxy displays a noticeable lack of distortion in its shape or spheroidal clusters.”

“This suggests that, although their interaction has been significant, NGC 3640 is not currently in close proximity to pose a threat. NGC 3641 may be safe – at least for now.”

Survey results will be published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

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Marco Mirabire et al. 2024. Vegas-SSS: Tracing the stellar cluster population of the interacting NGC 3640 Galaxy Group. A&A 691, A104; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202451273

Source: www.sci.news

Dark Wolf Nebula reveals new imagery through VST capture

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Astronomers using the VLT survey telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile 283 million pixel image of the Dark Wolf Nebula.

This image was taken by ESO’s VLT survey telescope and shows the Dark Wolf Nebula. Image credit: ESO / VPHAS+ Team.

The Dark Wolf Nebula is located approximately 5,300 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.

“Dark nebulae are cold clouds of cosmic dust so dense that they obscure the light of stars and other celestial bodies behind them,” ESO astronomers said in a statement.

“As its name suggests, it does not emit visible light, unlike other nebulae.”

“The dust grains within it absorb visible light and only allow longer wavelength radiation, such as infrared radiation, to pass through.”

“Astronomers study these frozen dust clouds because they often contain new stars that are being born.”

New images of the Dark Wolf Nebula VLT surveying telescope (VST) Chile’s Atacama Desert.

“This image occupies an area of ​​the sky equivalent to four full moons, but it is actually part of a much larger nebula called . gum 55” said the astronomers.

“If you look closely, the wolf may even be a werewolf, and its hands are trying to grab unsuspecting bystanders.”

“Of course, tracking the ghostly presence of a wolf in the sky is only possible because of its contrast with the bright background.”

“This image shows in stunning detail how the dark wolf stands out among the glowing clouds that form the stars behind it.”

“The colorful clouds are composed primarily of hydrogen gas, which glows with a reddish hue when excited by intense ultraviolet light from newborn stars.”

This image was taken as part of the VST Photometric Hα Survey of the Southern Galactic Plane and Bulge (VPHAS+), which is studying about 500 million objects in the Milky Way.

“Studies like this help scientists better understand the life cycles of stars in our home galaxy,” the researchers said.

Source: www.sci.news

VST finds jellyfish galaxy in the Hydra cluster

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Astronomers ESO’s Very Low Tilt Survey Telescope The Chilean VST satellite has captured a stunning image of the distorted spiral galaxy NGC 3312.

This VST image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 3312. Image courtesy of ESO / INAF / M. Spavone / E. Iodice.

NGC 3312 It is located in the constellation Hydra and is more than 160 million light years away from Earth.

Also known as ESO 501-43, IC 629, IRAS 10346-2718, LEDA 31513, Found It was discovered on March 26, 1835 by British astronomer John Herschel.

NGC 3312 is Hydra I Cluster (Abell 1060) is a galaxy cluster containing over 150 luminous galaxies.

As galaxies move through the hotter gas in the cluster, they lose cooler gas.

It is likely distorted by the cluster’s main elliptical galaxies, NGC 3309 and NGC 3311.

“The spiral galaxy in the centre of this VST image appears fuzzy across the entire screen, seemingly leaking its contents into the surrounding space,” ESO astronomers said in a statement.

“This is NGC 3312, the victim of an astrophysical robbery: ram-pressure stripping.”

“This occurs when galaxies move through a dense fluid, such as the hot gas suspended between galaxies in a cluster,” the researchers explained.

“This hot gas is pulled by the cooler gas in the outer shell of the galaxy, causing it to be pulled out of the galaxy and leak out into space.”

“This cold gas is the raw material for star formation, which means that galaxies that are losing gas in this way are at risk of losing a decrease in their stellar population.”

“Affected galaxies, typically those that fall into the center of a cluster, tend to eventually form long trailing tendrils of gas behind them, which is where their nickname ‘jellyfish galaxies’ comes from.”

“This is just one of the many astronomical processes that make our cosmic pictures so diverse and fascinating.”

Source: www.sci.news