Free Astronomy Magazine January-February 2023

39 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023 ASTRO PUBLISHING channels and with local events in ESO Member States and beyond. In the above image, we see centre- stage the seven-light-year-long pil- lar of the Cone Nebula, which is part of the larger star-forming re- gion NGC 2264 and was discovered in the late 18 th century by as- tronomer William Herschel. In the sky, we find this horn-shaped neb- ula in the constellation Monoceros (The Unicorn), a surprisingly fitting name. Located less than 2500 light- when massive, newly formed bright blue stars give off stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation that blow away the material from their vicinity. As this material is pushed away, the gas and dust further away from the young stars gets com- pressed into dense, dark and tall pillar-like shapes. This process helps create the dark Cone Nebula, pointing away from the brilliant stars in NGC 2264. In this image, ob- tained with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectro- graph 2 (FORS2) on ESO’s VLT in Chile, hydrogen gas is repre- sented in blue and sulphur gas in red. The use of these filters makes the otherwise bright blue stars, that indicate the re- cent star formation, appear al- most golden, contrasting with the dark cone like sparklers. This image is just one example of the many stunning and awe- inspiring observations ESO tel- escopes have made in the past 60 years. While this one was obtained for outreach pur- poses, the overwhelming ma- jority of ESO’s telescope time is dedicated to scientific observa- tions that have allowed us to capture the first image of an exoplanet, study the black hole at the centre of our home galaxy, and find proof that the expansion of our Universe is acceler- ating. Building on our 60 years of ex- perience in astronomy development, discovery and cooperation, ESO con- tinues to chart new territory for as- tronomy, technology and interna- tional collaboration. With our cur- rent facilities and ESO’s upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), we will keep on addressing humanity’s biggest questions about the Uni- verse and enabling unimaginable discoveries. years away, the Cone Nebula is rela- tively close to Earth, making it a well-studied object. But this view is more dramatic than any obtained before, as it showcases the nebula’s dark and impenetrable cloudy ap- pearance in a way that makes it re- semble a mythological creature. The Cone Nebula is a perfect example of the pillar-like shapes that develop in the giant clouds of cold molecular gas and dust, known for creating new stars. This type of pillar arises ! T he Cone Nebula is part of a star-forming region of space, NGC 2264, about 2500 light-years away. Its pillar-like appearance is a perfect example of the shapes that can develop in giant clouds of cold molecular gas and dust, known for creating new stars. This dramatic new view of the nebula was captured with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), and released on the occasion of ESO’s 60th anniversary. [ESO]