10/3/2018 CG 4 - Wikipedia

CG 4
CG 4, commonly referred to as God's Hand,[3] is a star-forming
CG 4
region located in the Puppis constellation, about 1,300 light-years
(400 pc) from Earth.[4] It is one of several objects referred to as Molecular cloud
"cometary globules", because its shape is similar to that of a comet.[1] It Bok globule
has a dense head formed of gas and dust,[1] which is around 1.5 ly
(0.46 pc) in diameter,[3] and an elongated faint tail[1] around 8 ly
(2.5 pc) in length.[3]

CG 4, and the nearby cometary globules, generally point away from the
Vela Supernova Remnant, located at the center of the Gum Nebula.[5]

Discovery
In 1976, photographs from the UK Schmidt Telescope—operated by the
Australian Astronomical Observatory—showed several objects
resembling comets, located in the Gum Nebula,[1] an emission nebula
of the constellation. Due to their particular shape, these objects came to
be known as cometary globules.[1] Each globule has a dense, dark,
Image of CG 4 taken by the European
ruptured head and a very long tail, with the latter pointing away from
Southern Observatory's Very Large
the Vela Supernova Remnant. As a part of the ESO Cosmic Gems
Telescope.[1]
program, the European Southern Observatory released an image of Observation data: J2000 epoch
CG 4 in January 2015 showing the head of the nebula.[1] Right 07h 34m 09.0s[2]
ascension
Structure Declination −46° 54′ 18″[2]

The head of cometary globule CG 4 resembles a comet with a dusty Distance 1,300 ly (400 pc)
cavernous mouth, as photographed by the European Southern Constellation Puppis
Observatory's Very Large Telescope in 2015.[6] Composed of relatively Physical characteristics
dense, dark matter, it is an opaque structure that is being illuminated
Dimensions 1.5 × 8 ly
by the glow of a nearby star.[7] An obscure red glow limbing the globule
(0.46 × 2.45 pc)
is possibly caused by emission from ionized hydrogen. The mouth of
the globule appears to be ready to consume the edge-on spiral galaxy Designations BHR 21,
ESO 257-19, located in the upper left corner of the image. In reality, the DCld 259.4-12.7,
galaxy is over a hundred million light-years further away from the FEST 2-30,
globule.[8] Sandqvist 103

References
1. "The Mouth of the Beast: VLT images cometary globule CG4" (http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1503/).
European Southern Observatory. January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
2. "[DB2002b] G259.43-12.72" (http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=%5BDB2002b%5D+G259.43-12.
72). SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
3. "God's Hand: Astronomers Capture Cometary Globule CG4" (http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/science-gods-h
and-cometary-globule-cg4-02441.html). Sci-News. January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
4. "Cometary Globule CG4" (https://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im1000.html). National Optical Astronomy
Observatory. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
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5. "Staring into the Maw of a Mysterious Cosmic Globule" (http://www.seeker.com/staring-into-the-maw-of-a-mysteri

ous-cosmic-globule-1769469476.html). Seeker. January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
6. "Image of Cometary Globule Marks 1,000 Online at NOAO" (https://www.noao.edu/outreach/press/pr06/pr0607.ht
ml#images). National Optical Astronomy Observatory. March 8, 2006. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
7. Starr, Michelle (January 28, 2015). "Mysterious nebula revealed in new image: 'Mouth of the Beast' " (https://www.
cnet.com/news/mysterious-nebula-revealed-in-new-image-mouth-of-the-beast/). CNET. Retrieved January 31,
2015.
8. Charlton, Seth (January 29, 2015). "ESO's Very Large Telescope Captures Cometery Globule CG4" (https://web.a
rchive.org/web/20150201210947/http://www.voicechronicle.com/201501-esos-very-large-telescope-captures-com
etery-globule-cg4). Voice Chronicle. Archived from the original (http://www.voicechronicle.com/201501-esos-very-l
arge-telescope-captures-cometery-globule-cg4) on February 1, 2015.

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