The Pirate of the Southern Skies

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.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso1834a
Type:Observation
Release date:24 October 2018, 17:00
Related releases:eso1834
Size:2580 x 2652 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
2.0 MB
Screensize JPEG
314.7 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
290.4 KB
1280x1024
458.5 KB
1600x1200
627.0 KB
1920x1200
683.0 KB
2048x1536
970.8 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):7 52 19.35
Position (Dec):-26° 26' 27.15"
Field of view:7.21 x 7.41 arcminutes
Orientation:North is -0.0° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
b
440 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Optical
v
557 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Optical
R
655 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Optical
H-alpha
656 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2