ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has captured a stunning new photo of NGC 1788, a reflection nebula located in a dark and often neglected corner of the Orion constellation. The new image represents the most detailed image of this ghostly nebula ever taken.
This image, taken by the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, shows the small, moderately bright reflection nebula NGC 1788. Image credit: ESO.
NGC 1788 was first described by the German-British astronomer William Herschel, who included it in a catalogue that later served as the basis for one of the most significant collections of deep-sky objects, the New General Catalogue (NGC).
Hidden in one of the darkest corners of the Orion constellation, this nebula is spreading its hazy wings through interstellar space 2,000 light-years away.
Nicknamed the Cosmic Bat, it is illuminated by the young stars nestled in its core — despite being shrouded by opaque clouds of dust, their bright rays still illuminate the nebula.
Even though NGC 1788 appears to be isolated from other cosmic objects, astronomers believe that it was shaped by powerful stellar winds from the massive stars beyond it.
These streams of scorching plasma are thrown from a star’s upper atmosphere at incredible speeds, shaping the clouds secluding the nebula’s nascent stars.
The new image of NGC 1788 was taken as part of ESO’s Cosmic Gems program, an outreach initiative that uses ESO telescopes to produce images of interesting, intriguing or visually attractive objects for the purposes of education and public outreach.
The program makes use of telescope time that cannot be used for science observations, and produces breathtaking images of some of the most striking objects in the night sky, such as this intricate reflection nebula.
