A fiery dragon
hunting for a galaxy
so far far away.
These striking images captured by the European Southern Observatory with the VLT telescope register what seems to be a hunt of truly cosmic proportions. A dark cloud of dust and gas, known as the cometary globule CG 4, appears to be reaching out to gobble up the spiral galaxy ESO 257-19. In reality, they are separated by a chasm of 100 million light-years.
CG 4 is located in the constellation Puppis, about 1,300 light-years from Earth. It is a type of Bok globule — a dense cloud of dust within which a new generation of stars can form. The globule's "head" spans roughly 1.5 light-years across, while its dusty "tail" stretches about 8 light-years. CG 4 is hypothesized to have been spherical, but a nearby supernova explosion has likely "blown out" its distinctive tail. Just like a sphere of glass blown into a vase. Now, what we see is a mysterious fragment of a stellar nursery, caught in the illusion of a hunt for a distant galaxy.
Absolutely breathtaking.
About the Creator
Lana V Lynx
Avid reader and occasional writer of satire and short fiction. For my own sanity and security, I write under a pen name. My books: Moscow Calling - 2017 and President & Psychiatrist
@lanalynx.bsky.social
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Ditched - Index
This index is just for my subscribers. I finished and published this long story or short novella of 6,000 words recently. I tried to link all previous parts of the story in the next one, so if you went along you shouldn't have been lost. This index is just put everything in one place.
By Lana V LynxExclusive • 4 months ago
Comments (14)
Very cool, and almost unbelievable the magnitude of those great distances.
Fascinating stuff! 😁
Fascinating photo & info for your lovely haiku.
Breathtaking indeed! And such a lovely narrative haiku!
🤯 That’s so cool! I never even heard of this nebula, but it looks so beautiful. The image of a massive dragon devouring galaxies feels like something out of a fantasy novel. This is an incredible haiku, nicely done!
Oh, wow, this is amazing. Both the poem and the images of CG 4
Beautiful piece and it’s hard to get your head around ‘light years away’… Great stuff Lana.
Gorgeous piece, gorgeous photo! Love it! 💝✨
Whoaaaa, that photo is breathtaking! But it didn't seem like a dragon to me at first. A crabs claw was what came to my mind 😅😅 Loved your poem!
That is so cool.
The images of CG 4 reaching for that galaxy are mind-blowing. It's crazy to think they're so far apart. Reminds me of when I saw a nebula through a small telescope. How do you think the supernova changed the globule's shape exactly? And what else could be going on in that stellar nursery?
I LOVE this poem and it fits the image❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Wow! Did not know any of this. It's amazing how 1300 light years from us is relatively close, cosmically speaking. Thanks for sharing!
Stirring haiku… The head image is striking and the haiku fits perfectly. Thank you for describing how the images were shot. That was interesting.