Cometary Globules - CG 4

RA center: 07h32m36s.716

DEC Centre: -46°56′14″.24

Date: 3. - 7. March 2024

Location: Chile / Chilescope

Telescope: ASA 500N, remote

  • Aperture: 500 mm
  • Focal length: 1900 mm

Recording camera: FLI PL16803

Mount: ASA DDM85 Premium

Exposure time: 13h 40′

Frames:

L: 40 x 300″
R: 12 x 300″
G: 12 x 300″
B: 12 x 300″
Ha: 26 x 600″
Oiii: 18 x 600″

Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight, Skylum Luminar AI


CG4 (also called "God's Hand") is a star-forming region in the constellation Puppis and about 1,300 light-years from Earth.  It is one of several objects called Cometary Globules (CG).   In 1976, photos from the British Schmidt Telescope showed several objects in the Gum Nebula that resembled a comet in shape. The Gum Nebula (Gum 12) is an emission nebula in the southern constellations Vela and Puppis.

These globules are irradiated with ultraviolet light from nearby hot stars and then show a shedding of material, creating a tail. Each globule has a dense, dark, broken head and a very long tail, the latter emanating from the Vela Supernova Remnant.