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.

AstroBin