Zooming in on the Seagull Nebula (IC 2177)

This video sequence starts with a broad view of the Milky Way before closing in on the familiar bright star Sirius and the nearby constellation of Orion (The Hunter). We see a faint red object resembling a bird in flight — the Seagull Nebula (IC 2177) and zoom in on what turns out to be a dramatic star formation region. The final view of the head part of the seagull is a new detailed image from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope.