Digitized Sky Survey image around NGC 2467

This vivid picture of an active star forming region — NGC 2467, otherwise known as the Skull and Crossbones nebula — is as sinister as it is beautiful. This image of dust, gas and bright young stars, gravitationally bound into the form of a grinning skull, was captured with the FORS instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). Whilst ESO’s telescopes are usually used for the collection of science data, their immense resolving power makes them ideal for capturing images such as this — which are beautiful for their own sake.

The image is a colour composite made from exposures from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), and shows the region surrounding NGC 2467. The field of view is approximately 2.4 x 2.0 degrees.

Credit:

ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin

About the Image

Id:eso1834b
Type:Observation
Release date:24 October 2018, 17:00
Related releases:eso1834
Size:10817 x 10477 px

About the Object

Name:NGC 2467
Type:Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Emission : H II Region
Distance:4500 light years
Constellation:Puppis
Category:Nebulae

Image Formats

Large JPEG
37.4 MB
Screensize JPEG
728.2 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
476.3 KB
1280x1024
811.3 KB
1600x1200
1.2 MB
1920x1200
1.4 MB
2048x1536
2.0 MB

Coordinates

Position (RA):7 52 23.76
Position (Dec):-26° 26' 50.92"
Field of view:181.75 x 176.04 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.9° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
B
479 nmDigitized Sky Survey 2
Optical
R
649 nmDigitized Sky Survey 2