Richard Hook | ESO education and Public Outreach

A Cosmic Sackful of Black Coal

By Richard Hook | ESO education and Public Outreach on Oct 14, 2015 Featured, Science/Education

The Coalsack Nebula is located about 600 light-years away in the constellation of Crux (The Southern Cross). This huge, dusky object forms a conspicuous silhouette against the bright, starry band of the Milky Way and for this reason the nebula has been known to people in the southern hemisphere for as long as our species […]

The Ghost of a Dying Star

By Richard Hook | ESO education and Public Outreach on Aug 5, 2015 Featured, Science/Education

Nicknamed the Southern Owl Nebula, this shimmering orb is a planetary nebula with a diameter of almost four light-years. Its informal name relates to its visual cousin in the northern hemisphere, the Owl Nebula. ESO 378-1 [1], which is also catalogued as PN K 1-22 and PN G283.6+25.3, is located in the constellation of Hydra […]