Dark Energy Camera Images Cometary Globule CG 4

This cloudy, ominous structure is CG 4, a cometary globule nicknamed ‘God’s Hand’. CG 4 is one of many cometary globules present within the Milky Way, and how these objects get their distinct form is still a matter of debate among astronomers. This image was captured by the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. In it, the features that classify CG 4 as a cometary globule are hard to miss. Its dusty head and long, faint tail vaguely resemble the appearance of a comet, though they have nothing in common. Astronomers theorize that cometary globules get their structure from the stellar winds of nearby hot, massive stars.

Credit:

CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab)

About the Image

Id:noirlab2412a
Type:Observation
Release date:May 6, 2024, 1:36 p.m.
Related releases:noirlab2412
Size:20978 x 15958 px

About the Object

Name:CG4
Distance:1300 light years
Constellation:Puppis
Category:Stars

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Coordinates

ObjectValue
Position (RA):7 32 32.68
Position (Dec):-47° 0' 17.74"
Field of view:94.40 x 71.81 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.0° left of vertical


Colors & filters

BandWave-lengthTele-scope
Optical
g
473 nmVíctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope
DECam
Optical
i
784 nmVíctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope
DECam
Optical
N662
662 nmVíctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope
DECam