Berlin, Jan 4 (EFE).- The Serpent constellation, already described by Ptolemy in the 2nd century, has been observed in detail by the European Astral Observatory (ESO) which has discovered “surprising astronomical objects” through infrared images.
The images published by ESO show “a myriad of stars” behind the faint orange glow of the Sh2-54 nebula. What those responsible for the observatory describe as an “impressive stellar nursery” has been observed with the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) based at the Paranal Observatory in Chile.
The ancient Greeks could not appreciate, when they perceived random patterns in the stars such as those that allowed them to attribute the name Serpent to this now analyzed due to its resemblance to that animal, that at the end of it there are several nebulae.
Among them are the Eagle, the Omega and the Sh2-54 and in the latter unknown details can now be observed.
Nebulae are vast clouds of gas and dust from which stars are born. Telescopes have allowed astronomers to identify and analyze these rather faint objects in exquisite detail.
The nebula shown in the images captured from Chile and located about 6,000 light years away, is officially called Sh2-54; the “Sh” refers to the American astronomer Steward Sharpless, who cataloged more than 300 nebulae in the 1950s.
To analyze these “stellar nurseries”, current advances allow us to look beyond the light that our eyes can detect, such as infrared light. “Just as the snake, namesake of this nebula, developed the ability to detect infrared light to better understand its surroundings, we have also developed infrared instruments to learn more about the Universe,” according to an ESO statement.
Infrared light can pass through the thick layers of dust almost unimpeded, and the released image now reveals a large number of stars hidden behind the dust veils. This is particularly useful, as it allows scientists to study what happens in stellar nurseries in much more detail, and therefore learn more about how stars form.
The image was captured in infrared light using the sensitive 67-million-pixel camera on ESO’s VISTA telescope, ESO says, and is part of a multi-year project that has repeatedly observed a large part of the Milky Way at infrared wavelengths. , providing key data to understand stellar evolution. EFE
