Colorful celestial landscape

Credit: ESO/K. Muzic

New observations with ESO's Very Large Telescope show the star cluster RCW 38 in all its glory. This image was taken during testing of the HAWK-I camera with the GRAAL adaptive optics system. It shows RCW 38 and its surrounding clouds of brightly glowing gas in exquisite detail, with dark tendrils of dust threading through the bright core of this young gathering of stars.


Continued...
Source / Courtesy Image

This pan video takes a close look at the dramatic star formation region RCW 38 in the constellation of Vela (The Sails).

This video starts with a wide field view of the spectacular southern part of the Milky Way. We close in gradually on a large bubble-shaped region of glowing gas in the constellation of Vela (The Sails).

This is the Vela supernova remnant, gas clouds that were ejected from a dying star in a huge explosion about 11 000 years ago