| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
Face In The Sky: Distant Star-Forming Nebula Has Eerie Human Profile Carved Into Its Wall Of Gas And Dust
By Rob Waugh
Last updated at 7:19 PM on 1st February 2012
As with clouds in the Earth’s sky, astronomers often find likenesses within 'cosmic clouds' – nebulas. The Wide Field Imager telescope in Chile recently captured a sharp new image of star-forming region NGC 3324, which is nicknamed the Gabriela Mistral Nebula, after the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet. You can 'see' Mistral's face in profile in the star-forming gas cloud.
The edge of the wall of gas and dust at the right is her face in profile – the bump in the centre is supposed to be Mistral's nose.
As with clouds in the Earth¿s sky, astronomers find likenesses within nebulae – cosmic clouds. One nickname for the NGC 3324 region is the Gabriela Mistral Nebula, after the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet. The edge of the wall of gas and dust at the right bears a strong resemblance to a human face in profile, with the 'bump' in the center corresponding to a nose
The stellar 'nursery' – a star-forming region – is located in the southern constellation of Carina roughly 7500 light years from Earth.
This new view was taken using the Wide Field Imager on the 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.
The intense ultraviolet light from several of NGC 3324’s hot, recently born stars, causes the gas cloud to glow with rich colors. It has also carved out a cavity in the surrounding gas and dust.
