Snake in the sky reveals details of stellar nursery in astronomical image

An image from the extended survey of the Milky Way, captured by the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) VISTA telescope, behind the “sky serpent” that forms the constellation Serpent. there is a star nursery with thousands of stars. The use of infrared light enabled the detection of new and complex details of the Sh2-54 nebula.

The infrared image was captured by the 67 million-pixel camera of the VISTA telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile and is part of a project spanning several years. The survey continuously observes a large area of ​​the Milky Way in the infrared to obtain data crucial to understanding stellar evolution.

The name Serpens was given by ancient observers who named these celestial formations according to the patterns formed by the stars. This celestial serpent was torn into head and tail, which in the future was called the Serpentarium. What they could never see was the euphoria of the three nebulae behind the constellation: Eagle, Omega and Sh2-54.

Seeing the constellations in a new light

One of the most notable technological advances in universe research has been the ability to see beyond the light that our eyes can perceive. In this context, use of infrared lightThis led to the discovery of a completely new scenario behind the Sh2-54 nebula, which, incidentally, is naturally found in the organism of snakes.

Its initials are Sh2-54, referring to the American astronomer Stewart Sharpless, who cataloged it along with hundreds of others in the 1950s. It is located about 6,000 light-years from Earth.

Details of this stellar chamber have emerged as infrared light can pass through the thick layers of dust that make up such nebulae. Observing what happens at these stellar birthplaces is essential to understanding their formation.