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A new recording of the Visible and infrared survey telescope for astronomy reveals a stellar nursery in the tail of the Serpent constellation.
When you look at the night sky, by drawing imaginary lines between the stars – with a little imagination – you can see all kinds of shapes. The casserole is a good example. Like the Big Dipper. And you’re not the only one staring at the night sky like this; the ancient Greeks did too and it was their imagination that prompted them to name a collection of stars that looked like a serpent Serpens (Snake).
Bitten mists
What the ancient Greeks couldn’t see, however, was that this serpent’s tail housed all kinds of wondrous objects, like the famous Eagle Nebula (which James Webb recently mentioned). photographed a breathtakingly beautiful piece). But also the Sh2-54 nebula can be found here. And astronomers have now made a spectacular infrared image of it.
S2-24 nebula in infrared. Image: ESO/VVVX.
gas and dust cloud
The Sh2-54 nebula is actually nothing more than a huge cloud of gas and dust. In this cloud, located in the tail of the constellation of the Serpent, new stars are born. However, the visible light emitted by these stars is blocked by the shrouds of dust that surround them. And that makes them invisible. Unless you have a powerful infrared telescope. Because infrared light travels almost unhindered through this dust.
And scientists now have it with the help of the Visible and infrared survey telescope for astronomy looked at the stellar nursery in the tail of Serpens. The result is an image containing a multitude of stars that are normally obscured by dust in visible light.
On the left, the S2-24 nebula in infrared, captured by the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA). On the right is the nebula in visible light, captured by the VLT Survey Telescope (VST). Images: ESO / VVVX (left) and ESO (right).
Important recordings
These types of records are of great value to astronomers. They help get a better picture of what’s going on in these stellar nurseries. It will also help researchers better understand how stars form and evolve.
Regarding the latter, we can expect new ideas and discoveries in the years to come. This latest image was made as part of a multi-year research project in which much of our galaxy is repeatedly studied at infrared wavelengths using VISTA.
