Photo of the day: purple fog in the constellation Poppa
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has presented a magnificent picture of the formation with the designation DG121 in the vastness of the Universe. The imaged object is a giant cloud of ionized hydrogen (H II region).
The structure in the photo is located in the constellation Popups. H II regions form when young massive stars emit enough ultraviolet radiation to ionize the surrounding gas clouds.
The imprinted formation resembles a purple haze or a bizarre hazy area. A bright star, designated HD60068, is visible near the center of the frame.
Image captured with a FORS 2 focal gear and low-resolution spectrograph, one of ESO’s Very Large Telescope receivers. This system is located in the Chilean Atacama Desert.
We add that the named astronomical instrument received the nickname “Swiss army knife” from scientists for its ability to explore many different space objects in many different ways.
