Free Astronomy Magazine July-August 2024

50 JULY-AUGUST 2024 ASTRO PUBLISHING by NOIRLab − Josie Fenske DECam spies cometary globule reaching for the stars A bout 1300 light-years away, in the constellation Puppis, a ghostly hand appears to be emerging from the interstellar medium and reaching out into the cosmos. This cloudy, ominous struc- ture is CG 4, a cometary globule that has been given the nickname ‘God’s Hand’. CG 4 is one of many cometary globules present within the Milky Way, and how these objects get their distinctive form is still a matter of debate among astronomers. T his cloudy, ominous structure is CG 4, a cometary globule nicknamed ‘God’s Hand’. CG 4 is one of many cometary globules present within the Milky Way, and how these objects get their distinct form is still a matter of debate among astronomers. This image was captured by the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. In it, the features that classify CG 4 as a cometary globule are hard to miss. Its dusty head and long, faint tail vaguely resemble the appearance of a comet, though they have nothing in common. Astronomers theorize that cometary globules get their structure from the stellar winds of nearby hot, massive stars. [CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA. Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab)]