Zoom-in to Reflection Nebula Bernes 149 & Dark Cloud Lupus 3 | NOIRLab

Zoom-in to Reflection Nebula Bernes 149 & Dark Cloud Lupus 3 | NOIRLab

The massive, star-forming interstellar cloud Lupus 3 is captured with the 570-megapixel US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera at the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab’s Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The dazzling central region of this sprawling cloud reveals a pair of infant stars bursting from their natal cocoons of dust and gas to illuminate the reflection nebula known as Bernes 149. These contrasting regions make this object a prime target of research on star formation. 

This star-forming nebula is located about 500 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Lupus (the Wolf).

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA/ T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab)

Image Processing: D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: May 17, 2023

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