Image Credit & Copyright: William Vrbasso
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
The red “monster” shown in the image is Cometary Globule CG 4, 1,300 light-years away in the Constellation Puppis. CG 4 is a molecular cloud, where hydrogen becomes cold enough to form molecules that can be brought together by gravity to create stars. The shape of CG 4 resembles that of a comet, but its head is 1.5 light-year in diameter and its tail is 8 light-years long.
Astronomers believe that the tail of a cometary globule could have been shaped by a nearby supernova explosion or by irradiation from hot, massive stars. Indeed, CG 4 and other nearby globules point away from the Vela Supernova Remnant, at the center of the Gum Nebula. The edge-on spiral galaxy, ESO 257-19, is more than a hundred million light-years beyond CG 4, and is completely safe from the “monster”.
by Professor_Moraiarkar
11 Comments
Globule is hungry
“Orange Globule consuming the Galaxy”
Lisan al Ghaib!
Space Graboid
All the links in this post are wiiiiild
Run, lil galaxy, run!
They aren’t that close, I presume the galaxy is further away??
Tyranids getting ready to eat
Friends who ride majestic, translucent steeds, shooting flaming arrows across the bridge of Hemdale.
But seriously, is there a galaxy‐eating monster out there?