Space & Astronomy

'Mouth of the Beast' nebula photographed

By T.K. Randall
February 1, 2015 ·  6 comments

The nebula is located 1,300 light years from the Earth. Image Credit: ESO Despite their name, cometary globules don't actually have anything to do with comets but are instead small nebulous globules of gas and dust that astronomers are still trying to learn more about.

The new image shows the dusty 'mouth' of the globule, called CG4, which measures 1.5 light years across with a tail 8 light years long.The image was captured thanks to the sensitive optics of ESO's Very Large Telescope which is located in Chile's Atacama Desert.

While the exact nature and origin of cometary globules remains a bit of a mystery, astronomers believe that the 'mouth' shape in the photograph can be attributed to nearby young massive stars which are producing enough radiation to erode the thick, dusty material of the nebula.

Source: Discovery News | Comments (6)

Tags: ESO, Nebula