Nota de prensa
La nebulosa del Gato sonriente, captada en una nueva imagen de ESO
27 de Junio de 2023
Esta nube naranja y roja forma parte de la nebulosa Sh2-284, y la espectacular y detallada imagen se ha obtenido con datos del VLT Survey Telescope, que se encuentra en el Observatorio Europeo Austral (ESO). Esta nebulosa está repleta de estrellas jóvenes, ya que el gas y el polvo que contiene se condensan para formar nuevos soles. Si echas un vistazo a la nube en su conjunto, es posible que puedas distinguir la cara de un gato sonriendo desde el cielo.
La guardería estelar Sh2-284 es una vasta región de polvo y gas y su parte más brillante, visible en esta imagen, tiene unos 150 años luz (más de 1400 billones de kilómetros) de ancho. Se encuentra a unos 15.000 años luz de distancia de la Tierra, en la constelación de Monoceros.
Ubicado en el centro de la parte más brillante de la nebulosa, justo debajo de la "nariz del gato", hay un cúmulo de estrellas jóvenes conocido como Dolidze 25, que produce grandes cantidades de radiación y vientos fuertes. La radiación es lo suficientemente potente como para ionizar el gas de hidrógeno presente en la nube, produciendo así sus brillantes colores naranja y rojo. En nubes como esta es donde se encuentran los “ladrillos” para la construcción de nuevas estrellas.
Los vientos del cúmulo central de estrellas alejan el gas y el polvo en la nebulosa, ahuecando su centro. Cuando los vientos se topan con bolsas de material más densas, estas ofrecen mayor resistencia, lo que significa que las áreas que hay a su alrededor se erosionan primero. Esto crea varios pilares que se pueden ver, a lo largo de los bordes de Sh2-284, apuntando al centro de la nebulosa, como el del lado derecho de la imagen. Si bien en la imagen estos pilares pueden parecer pequeños, en realidad tienen varios años luz de ancho y contienen grandes cantidades de gas y polvo a partir de los cuales se forman nuevas estrellas.
Esta imagen se ha creado con datos obtenidos por el VLT Survey Telescope (VST), que es propiedad del Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica de Italia (INAF) y está ubicado en el Observatorio Paranal de ESO, en Chile. El VST se dedica a mapear el cielo del sur en luz visible y hace uso de una cámara de 256 millones de píxeles especialmente diseñada para tomar imágenes de campo muy amplio. Esta imagen forma parte del sondeo VPHAS+ (VST Photometric Hα Survey of the Southern Galactic Plane and Bulge, sondeo fotométrico en Hα del plano y el bulbo galácticos con el VST), que ha estudiado unos 500 millones de objetos en nuestra galaxia, ayudándonos a comprender mejor el nacimiento, la vida y la muerte de las estrellas de nuestra Vía Láctea.
Enlaces
- Fotos del VST
- Otras imágenes tomadas con el VST
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Contactos
Juan Carlos Muñoz Mateos
ESO Media Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Teléfono: +49 89 3200 6176
Correo electrónico: jmunoz@eso.org
Bárbara Ferreira
ESO Media Manager
Garching bei München, Germany
Teléfono: +49 89 3200 6670
Celular: +49 151 241 664 00
Correo electrónico: press@eso.org
Francisco Rodríguez (Contacto para medios de comunicación en Chile)
Red de Difusión Científica de ESO
y European Southern Observatory
Teléfono: +56-2-463-3151
Correo electrónico: eson-chile@eso.org
Acerca de la nota de prensa
| Nota de prensa No.: | eso2309es-cl |
| Nombre: | Sh2-284 |
| Tipo: | Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Emission : H II Region |
| Facility: | VLT Survey Telescope |
| Instruments: | OmegaCAM |
Imágenes
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