The Very Large Telescope spots a spooky skull nebula

By Georgina Torbet October 31, 2020

Just in time for Halloween, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has released an image of a spooky structure known as the Skull Nebula. This nebula, situated deep in the belly of The Whale constellation (Cetus), is located around 1,600 light-years from Earth. But the nebula is not only thematically appropriate for this weekend, but it is also notable for its unusual configuration of two closely bound stars being orbited by a third more distant star.

Captured in astounding detail by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), the eerie Skull Nebula is showcased in this new image in beautiful pink and red tones. This planetary nebula, also known as NGC 246, is the first known to be associated with a pair of closely bound stars orbited by a third outer star. — Captured in astounding detail by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), the eerie Skull Nebula is showcased in this new image in beautiful pink and red tones. This planetary nebula, also known as NGC 246, is the first known to be associated with a pair of closely bound stars orbited by a third outer star. ESO

A planetary nebula like this is formed when a star approaches the end of its life and throws off its outer layers in a dramatic explosion. These outer layers form a bubble around the star, which is reduced to a white dwarf. In the case of the Skull Nebula, the white dwarf remains at the very center of the nebula, where it also orbits around a companion star, a red dwarf. You can’t see the red dwarf in the image as it is too faint, but it is relatively close to the white dwarf, at just 500 times the distance between Earth and the sun.

In addition to this pair of stars at the heart of the nebula, there is also a third star orbiting the pair at a distance of around 1,900 times the distance between the Earth and the sun. This makes the Skull Nebula the first planetary nebula discovered with a hierarchical triple stellar system at its heart.

The image was captured using the ESO’s Very Large Telescope, which is located in the Atacama Desert in Chile. It was taken using the telescope’s FORS 2 instrument, the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph.

“This new image of the Skull Nebula intentionally captures light emitted in some narrow ranges of wavelengths — those associated with hydrogen and oxygen gas,” ESO writes. “Observations of light emitted by particular elements help reveal a wealth of information about an object’s chemical and structural compositions. This new image of the Skull Nebula highlights where NGC 246 is rich or poor in hydrogen (shown in red) and oxygen (depicted in light blue).”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…

Space

James Webb detects important molecule in the stunning Orion nebula

This image is NIRCam’s view of the Orion Bar region studied by the team of astronomers. Bathed in harsh ultraviolet light from the stars of the Trapezium Cluster, it is an area of intense activity, with star formation and active astrochemistry. This made it a perfect place to study the exact impact that ultraviolet radiation has on the molecular makeup of the discs of gas and dust that surround new stars. The radiation erodes the nebula’s gas and dust in a process known as photoevaporation; this creates the rich tapestry of cavities and filaments that fill the view. The radiation also ionises the molecules, causing them to emit light — not only does this create a beautiful vista, it also allows astronomers to study the molecules using the spectrum of their emitted light obtained with Webb’s MIRI and NIRSpec instruments.

The Orion Nebula is famous for its beauty, but it was also the site of a recent exciting scientific discovery. The James Webb Space Telescope has detected an important molecule in a planet-forming disk of debris within the nebula. The molecule, called methyl cation (CH3+), is a carbon compound that is important for the formation of life and has never been observed in space before.

This image is NIRCam’s view of the Orion Bar region studied by the team of astronomers. Bathed in harsh ultraviolet light from the stars of the Trapezium Cluster, it is an area of intense activity, with star formation and active astrochemistry. This made it a perfect place to study the exact impact that ultraviolet radiation has on the molecular makeup of the discs of gas and dust that surround new stars. ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), the PDRs4All ERS Team

Space

Scientists observe the aftermath of a spacecraft crashing into asteroid

This artist’s illustration shows the ejection of a cloud of debris after NASA’s DART spacecraft collided with the asteroid Dimorphos. The image was created with the help of the close-up photographs of Dimorphos that the DRACO camera on the DART spacecraft took right before the impact. The DART spacecraft collided with Dimorphos at a speed of over 6 kilometres per second (about 22 000 kilometres per hour). After the impact several telescopes observed the evolution of the cloud of debris, including ESO’s Very Large Telescope.

When NASA deliberately crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid last year, it wasn't only a thrilling test of planetary defense. It was also a unique opportunity for scientists to observe an asteroid system and see the effects of the crash, letting them learn more about what asteroids are composed of. Earlier this month, images of the impact captured by the Hubble Space Telescope were released, and now we can see the impact from another view, captured by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO'S VLT).

The Very Large Telescope is a ground-based set of four telescopes located in Chile, which were able to see the aftermath following the DART spacecraft impacting the asteroid Dimorphos. The images show the cloud of debris thrown up by the impact, called the ejecta, between the time just before the impact on 26 September 2022 all the way through to a month later on October 25. Through this time, the cloud developed clumps and spirals and settled into a long tail formed by radiation from the sun.

Space

See the dark pillar of the Cone Nebula captured by the Very Large Telescope

The Cone Nebula is part of a star-forming region of space, NGC 2264, about 2500 light-years away. Its pillar-like appearance is a perfect example of the shapes that can develop in giant clouds of cold molecular gas and dust, known for creating new stars. This dramatic new view of the nebula was captured with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), and released on the occasion of ESO’s 60th anniversary.

A stunning image of a distant nebula has been taken using the Very Large Telescope. The Cone Nebula, located 2,700 light-years away in the constellation of Monoceros (the Unicorn), is huge in size at 7 light-years long. The Cone Nebula is next to the beautiful Christmas Tree cluster, also known as NGC 2264.

The image was shared by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in celebration of its formation 60 years ago. ESO operates ground-based telescopes in Chile including the Very Large Telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, and the New Technology Telescope.