El nacimiento del cazador
La constelación de Orión (el cazador) es una de las agrupaciones de estrellas más reconocibles del cielo nocturno. Llevamos, al menos, decenas de cientos de años observando las estrellas más destacadas de Orión (probablemente incluso más). Los astrónomos chinos lo llamaron 参宿 o Shēn, literalmente "tres estrellas", por sus tres puntos brillantes (que forman el cinturón del cazador). Los antiguos egipcios las consideraban los dioses Sah y Sopdet, manifestaciones de Osiris e Isis, respectivamente, mientras que los astrónomos griegos vieron a un valiente cazador, el epónimo Orión, con su espada sobre la cabeza, listo para atacar.
Mitología aparte, Orión es una zona del cielo fascinante. Esta imagen del VLT (Very Large Telescope) de ESO, muestra una nebulosa de reflexión en el corazón de la constelación: NGC 2023. Situada cerca de la conocida Cabeza de caballo y de la nebulosa de la Flama, NGC 2023 se esconde a unos 1500 años luz de la Tierra y es una de las nebulosas de reflexión más grandes del cielo.
Las nebulosas de reflexión son nubes de polvo interestelar que reflejan la luz de fuentes cercanas o internas, lo que produce un efecto similar al de la niebla alrededor de un faro de coche. NGC 2023 está iluminada por una joven estrella masiva llamada HD 37903. La estrella alcanza temperaturas muy altas (es varias veces más caliente que el Sol) y su brillante luz blanco-azulada hace que NGC 2023 reluzca en tonos lechosos. A menudo, este tipo de nebulosas son los lugares en los que nacen las estrellas y contienen una distribución grumosa del gas, considerablemente más denso que el medio que las rodea. Bajo la influencia de la gravedad, estos grumos se atraen unos a otros y se combinan, creando finalmente una nueva estrella. ¡En unos cuantos millones de años, el cinturón de Orión puede tener una nueva estrella!
La imagen fue tomada con el instrumento FORS (FOcal Reducer and Spectrograph, reductor focal y espectrógrafo), instalado en el VLT, como parte del programa Joyas Cósmicas de ESO. Esta iniciativa produce, con un fin educativo y divulgativo, imágenes de objetos interesantes y visualmente atractivos utilizando telescopios ESO. El programa hace uso de tiempo de telescopio que no puede utilizarse para observaciones científicas. Todos los datos recogidos también pueden ser útiles para fines científicos y se ponen a disposición de los astrónomos a través de los archivos científicos de ESO.
Crédito:ESO
Sobre la imagen
| Identificador: | potw1919a |
| Idioma: | es-cl |
| Tipo: | Observación |
| Fecha de publicación: | 13 de Mayo de 2019 a las 06:00 |
| Tamaño: | 1705 x 1767 px |
Sobre el objeto
| Nombre: | NGC 2023 |
| Tipo: | Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Emission Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Reflection |
| Distancia: | 1500 años luz |
| Constellation: | Orion |
Fondo de pantalla
Coordenadas
| Position (RA): | 5 41 41.94 |
| Position (Dec): | -2° 15' 52.63" |
| Field of view: | 7.16 x 7.42 arcminutes |
| Orientación: | El norte está a 0.0° a la izquierda de la vertical |
Colores y filtros
| Banda | Longitud de onda | Telescopio |
|---|---|---|
| Óptico b | 440 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS2 |
| Óptico v | 557 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS2 |
| Óptico R | 655 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS2 |
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