Lupus 2 Star-forming Region (Infrared View) | European Southern Observatory

Lupus 2 Star-forming Region (Infrared View) | European Southern Observatory

This image shows the region Lupus 2. New stars are born in the colorful clouds of gas and dust seen here. The infrared observations underlying this image reveal new details in the star-forming regions that are usually obscured by the clouds of dust.

Distance: 1,200 light years

This image shows stars and clouds of gas and dust distributed over a dark background. A prominent cloud of gas and dust can be seen in the central part of the image. It features amorphous clouds in a red and brown hue. In the upper half of the image are a dozen stars in blue, red and yellow colors that shine more prominently than the other stars distributed uniformly in the image.

 The image was produced with data collected by the VIRCAM instrument, which is attached to the VISTA telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. The observations were done as part of the VISIONS survey, which will allow astronomers to better understand how stars form in these dust-enshrouded regions.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Meingast et al.

Release Date: May 11, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #Lupus2 #Nebulae #YoungStars #StellarNurseries #Constellation #Lupus #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VISTA #Telescope #Infrared #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education