ESO Telescope Captures Stunning Image of Odd Gas Clouds in Nearby Galaxy

ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) has captured a new, stunning picture of a star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The image reveals unprecedented details of the region, showing a little bit more about the area that was first spotted hundreds of years ago.

A glance toward the southern constellation of Dorado on a clear, dark night reveals a blurry patch. At first sight, this appears to be just like a cloud in the Earth's atmosphere, but it's far more than that. The Large Magellanic Cloud and its smaller sibling were first officially spotted in 1519 by Ferdinand Magellan, the European explorer. Since then, they've been the subjects of scrutiny by both profession and amateur astronomers.

Located only about 163,000 light-years from the Milky Way galaxy, the LMC is extremely close on a cosmic scale; this allows astronomers to study the area in far more detail than other systems. It actively produces new stars. In fact, some of its star-forming regions, such as the famous Tarantula Nebula, can be seen with the naked eye. Yet there are other smaller regions that telescopes can reveal in intricate detail. The new image shows two of these: NGC 2014 and NGC 2020.

The pink cloud on the right is called NGC 2014 and is composed mainly of hydrogen gas. Containing a cluster of hot, young stars, the energetic radiation from these stars strips electrons from the atoms within the surrounding hydrogen gas. This helps produce the characteristic red glow.

Its partner, in contrast, is composed of what appears to be bright, blue gas. This blue color is caused by a similar ionizing radiation. Since the cloud is made up of mainly oxygen instead of hydrogen, though, there's a blue glow associated with it.

While the strikingly different colors are mainly the result of different chemical makeups, there may also be other factors involved. For example, the temperature of the stars causing the clouds to glow as well as their distance from the gas clouds could also play roles. Either way, it's a spectacular image.