Un emú en el cielo sobre Paranal
En la cima de Cerro Paranal, en las partes más altas del desierto de Atacama, en Chile, dos de los Telescopios Unitarios del VLT (Very Large Telescope) disfrutan en silencio de la luz de las estrellas, observando la Vía Láctea a medida que se curva sobre el Observatorio Paranal de ESO.
En esta imagen podemos ver varios objetos interesantes. Algunos de los más destacados son las dos Nubes de Magallanes — la pequeña (SMC) y la grande (LMC) — que aparecen brillantes entre los dos telescopios. A la izquierda, sobre los telescopios, como si de una opaca mancha que atraviesa la Vía Láctea se tratara, vemos el contraste de la oscura Nebulosa Saco de Carbón, semejante a una enorme huella dactilar cósmica.
Las Nubes de Magallanes se encuentran en el Grupo Local de galaxias que incluye a la nuestra, la Vía Láctea. La Gran Nube de Magallanes se encuentra a una distancia de unos 163.000 años luz de nuestra galaxia, y la Pequeña Nube de Magallanes a unos 200.000 años luz. En comparación, la Nebulosa Saco de Carbón está a tiro de piedra de nosotros. A unos 600 años luz aproximadamente del Sistema Solar, es la nebulosa oscura más visible de nuestros cielos.
El Saco de Carbón ha sido registrado por numerosas culturas antiguas, y varios grupos indígenas australianos lo identifican como la cabeza del Emú en el cielo. Los aborígenes australianos son probablemente de las culturas más antiguas en el uso de la astronomía, e identifican sus constelaciones utilizando nebulosas oscuras — al contrario que en la tradición occidental, que utiliza las estrellas.
En el hemisferio sur, estas nubes oscuras destacan más que en el hemisferio norte. Otras culturas también tienen constelaciones oscuras — como por ejemplo, los incas, en Sudamérica. Una constelación especialmente destacada para los astrónomos incas era conocida como Urcuchillay (La Llama), dando a entender la importancia de los animales en su cultura como fuente de alimento, lana y para el transporte.
Esta imagen fue tomada por el Fotógrafo embajador de ESO Yuri Beletsky.
Crédito:
ESO/Y. Beletsky
Sobre la imagen
| Identificador: | potw1439a |
| Idioma: | es-cl |
| Tipo: | Fotográfico |
| Fecha de publicación: | 29 de Septiembre de 2014 a las 10:00 |
| Tamaño: | 2500 x 1525 px |
Sobre el objeto
| Nombre: | Coalsack Nebula, Large Magellanic Cloud, Milky Way, Small Magellanic Cloud, Very Large Telescope |
| Tipo: | Milky Way : Nebula Local Universe : Galaxy Unspecified : Sky Phenomenon : Night Sky : Milky Way Unspecified : Technology : Observatory : Telescope |
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