{"id":12276,"date":"2016-03-02T06:00:48","date_gmt":"2016-03-02T11:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12276"},"modified":"2016-03-02T02:10:30","modified_gmt":"2016-03-02T07:10:30","slug":"eso-the-realm-of-buried-giants-crimson-nebula-lit-by-rare-massive-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12276","title":{"rendered":"ESO: “The Realm of Buried Giants” – crimson nebula lit by rare, massive stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is a new report from the\u00a0European Southern Observatory (ESO<\/a>):<\/p>\n

The Realm of Buried Giants<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In this huge new image clouds of crimson gas are illuminated by rare, massive stars that have only recently ignited and are still buried deep in thick dust clouds. These scorching-hot, very young stars are only fleeting characters on the cosmic stage and their origins remain mysterious. The vast nebula where these giants were born, along with its rich and fascinating surroundings, are captured here in fine detail by ESO\u2019s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>
In this huge image of part of the southern constellation of Norma (The Carpenter\u2019s Square) wisps of crimson gas are illuminated by rare, massive stars that have only recently ignited and are still buried deep in thick dust clouds. These scorching-hot, very young stars are only fleeting characters on the cosmic stage and their origins remain mysterious. The vast nebula where these giants were born, known as RCW 106, is captured here in fine detail by ESO\u2019s VLT Survey Telescope (VST), at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. The brightest part appears just above the centre of the image. Many other interesting objects are also captured in this wide-field image. For example the filaments to the right of the image are the remnants of an ancient supernova (SNR G332.4-00.4, also known as RCW 103), and the glowing red filaments at the lower left surround an unusual and very hot star (RCW 104, surrounding the Wolf\u2013Rayet star WR 75). Patches of dark obscuring dust are also visible across the entire cosmic landscape.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

RCW 106 is a sprawling cloud of gas and dust located about 12 000 light-years away in the southern constellation of\u00a0Norma<\/a> (The Carpenter\u2019s Square). The region gets its name from being the 106th entry in a catalogue of H II<\/a> regions in the southern Milky Way [1]<\/a>. H II regions like RCW 106 are clouds of hydrogen gas<\/a> that are being ionised<\/a> by the intense starlight of scorching-hot, young stars, causing them to glow and display weird and wonderful shapes.<\/p>\n

RCW 106 itself is the red cloud above centre in this new image, although much of this huge H II region is hidden by dust and it is much more extensive than the visible part. Many other unrelated objects are also visible in this wide-field VST<\/a>\u00a0image. For example, the filaments to the right of the image are the remnants of an ancient supernova, and the glowing red filaments at the lower left surround an unusual and very hot star [2]<\/a>. Patches of dark obscuring dust are also visible across the entire cosmic landscape.<\/p>\n

Astronomers have been studying RCW 106 for some time, although it is not the crimson clouds that draw their attention, but rather the mysterious origin of the massive and powerful stars buried within. Although they are very bright, these stars cannot be seen in visible-light images such as this one as the surrounding dust is too thick, but they make their presence clear in images of the region at longer wavelengths.<\/p>\n