Serpent’s Nebula | Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

Serpent’s Nebula | Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

The emission nebula Sh2-54 glows brightly in this image from the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab. Gathering the fine details of this particular image required almost twenty minutes of observations and three different wavelength filters. Situated within the constellation of Serpens (The Serpent), Sh2-54 forms part of a much wider nebulosity which includes the famous Eagle Nebula. Serpens is a unique constellation, the only one of the official 88 used today that is split into two unconnected parts: Serpens Caput—the Serpent’s Head—and Serpens Cauda—The Serpent’s Tail. 

Distance: 6,000 light years

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy

Acknowledgments: Image Processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin

Release Date: Jan. 27, 2021

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