"The Dark Tower Nebula": Globule GN 16.43.7.01 | ESO

"The Dark Tower Nebula": Globule GN 16.43.7.01 | ESO

Astronomers are well-known for naming objects with odd conventions, and the cometary globule GN 16.43.7.01 seen in this image is no exception. Cometary globules have nothing to do with comets aside from appearance: they are named for their dusty head and elongated, dark tail, as seen in this image taken with the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) hosted at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.

This globule, dubbed the Dark Tower—astronomers compensate with obvious names—lies about 5,000 light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation Scorpius (the Scorpion). It contains dense clumps of collapsing gas and dust that will form new stars.

The curious shape of this object is carved out from an intense bombardment of radiation from a cluster of young, bright stars located out-of-view to the upper-left. This radiation has swept around and outlined the cometary globule with the characteristic pink glow of hot, excited matter.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/VPHAS+ Team

Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit (CASU)

Release Date: March 11, 2024

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