A colorful Gum 3 nebula was captured by the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) of ESO’s Paranal Observatory, located near the commune of Taltal, Antofagasta region.
Gum 3 is an interstellar cloud of gas and dust located about 3,600 light years away., between the constellations of Monoceros and Canis Major. It is named in honor of Colin Stanley Gum, an Australian astronomer who cataloged 84 nebulae in the southern sky.
But what caught the most attention in the images was that the peculiar shape and colors, captured in the large lens, resembled the figure of a Koi fish.
“We invite you to see a Koi-Smico event”ESO Chile joked through their social networks, sharing the incredible images of Gum 3.
“When the intense ultraviolet radiation from nearby young stars hits the hydrogen atoms in the cloud, they emit visible light in very specific colors, which we can see red and pink tones”they explained.
“At the same time, the dust particles within the cloud reflect starlight, especially blue colors, something similar to what makes us perceive the sky as blue.“, they described.
Finally, they added that “This game of colors makes nebulae like Gum 3 spectacular to look at“.
