Comunicato Stampa
La nebulosa "Gatto sorridente" catturata in una nuova immagine dell'ESO
27 Giugno 2023
Questa nube rossa e arancione, parte della nebulosa Sh2-284, viene mostrata in un dettaglio spettacolare utilizzando i dati del VLT Survey Telescope, ospitato dall'ESO (European Southern Observatory). Questa nebulosa brulica di giovani stelle, mentre gas e polvere al suo interno si aggregano per formare nuovi soli. Se guardate la nube nel suo insieme, potreste riuscire a distinguere la faccia di un gatto che vi sorride dal cielo.
Il vivaio stellare Sh2-284 è una vasta regione di polvere e gas, la cui zona più luminosa, visibile in questa immagine, misura circa 150 anni luce (più di 1400 trilioni di chilometri). Si trova a circa 15.000 anni luce dalla Terra nella costellazione dell'Unicorno.
Annidato al centro della parte più luminosa della nebulosa, proprio sotto il "naso del gatto", si trova un ammasso di giovani stelle noto come Dolidze 25, che produce grandi quantità di forti radiazioni e venti. La radiazione è abbastanza potente da ionizzare l'idrogeno gassoso nella nube, producendo così i colori brillanti arancione e rosso. È in nubi come questa che si trovano gli elementi costitutivi delle nuove stelle.
I venti dell'ammasso centrale di stelle spingono via il gas e la polvere nella nebulosa, svuotandone il centro. Quando i venti incontrano sacche di materiale più dense, queste offrono maggiore resistenza, il che significa che le aree circostanti vengono erose per prime. Ciò crea diversi pilastri, visibili lungo i bordi di Sh2-284, che puntano al centro della nebulosa, come per esempio quello sul lato destro dell'inquadratura. Sebbene questi pilastri possano sembrare piccoli nell'immagine, in realtà sono larghi diversi anni luce e contengono enormi quantità di gas e polvere da cui si formano nuove stelle.
Questa immagine è stata creata utilizzando i dati del VST (VLT Survey Telescope), di proprietà dell'Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica in Italia, INAF, ospitato presso l'Osservatorio dell'ESO a Paranal in Cile. Il VST è dedicato alla mappatura del cielo australe in luce visibile e utilizza una fotocamera da 256 milioni di pixel appositamente progettata per acquisire immagini a campo molto ampio. Questa immagine fa parte della survey VPHAS+ (VST Photometric Hα Survey of the Southern Galactic Plane and Bulge), che ha studiato circa 500 milioni di oggetti nella nostra galassia natale, aiutandoci a comprendere meglio la nascita, la vita e infine la morte delle stelle all'interno della Via Lattea.
Links
- Fotografie del VST
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Contatti
Juan Carlos Muñoz Mateos
ESO Media Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel.: +49 89 3200 6176
E-mail: jmunoz@eso.org
Bárbara Ferreira
ESO Media Manager
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel.: +49 89 3200 6670
Cell.: +49 151 241 664 00
E-mail: press@eso.org
Joerg Gasser (press contact Svizzera)
Rete di divulgazione scientifica dell'ESO
E-mail: eson-switzerland@eso.org
Sul Comunicato Stampa
| Comunicato Stampa N": | eso2309it-ch |
| Nome: | Sh2-284 |
| Tipo: | Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Emission : H II Region |
| Facility: | VLT Survey Telescope |
| Instruments: | OmegaCAM |
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