The Very Large Telescope observatory (VLT), in Chile, captured a large cloud of gas and cosmic dust that looks like a bat, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) said on Friday in a statement.
“A frightening bat was spotted flying over the Paranal area of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), in Chile, just in time for ‘Halloween’. Thanks to its wide field of view, the Sky Tracking Telescope VLT (VST) managed to capture this large cloud of cosmic gas and dust, whose fascinating appearance resembles the silhouette of a bat,” ESO reported.
The cloud of gas and dust, named RCW 94/95, is located about 10,000 light-years away, according to the statement. The discovery flies between the southern constellations of Circinus and Norma.
The cloud is the size of four full moons and appears to be searching for a bright spot above it, “as if looking for food”, according to ESO.
According to the statement, stars are born in the cloud of gas and dust. Stars release energy to the hydrogen atoms around them, “causing them to shine with the intense shade of red” seen in the captured image, said ESO.
The dark filaments (structures) of the nebula (cloud of gas and dust) look like the skeleton of a bat, according to the observatory.
The structures are accumulations of gas, colder and denser than their surroundings, with dust grains blocking visible starlight behind the filaments.
The RCW 94 and RCW 95 clouds of the nebula represent the right wing of the “bat” and the body of the figure.
The other parts of the “bat” do not yet have an official name.
The cloud was captured with the VST, a telescope belonging to the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, located at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile.
ESO, which emerged in 1962, builds and operates observatories, and is made up of 16 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), in addition to Chile, the host country, and Australia as a Strategic Partner.
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