Tags: European Southern Observatory

3I/ATLAS

As 3I/ATLAS Meets the Sun, Astronomers Fear a Cosmic Twist Awaits

As interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS hurtles toward the Sun this week, astronomers brace for a once-in-a-lifetime cosmic event that could reveal whether the mysterious visitor from beyond our Solar System will survive, explode, or rewrite what we know about interstellar space.

The ESA Finds Champagne Nebula And Brighter Sets of Stars

This stunning nebula, called RCW 34 and visualized by the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT), is home to young stars that heat gases, causing them to expand outward. In this brightest area of the nebula heated hydrogen bursts into the vacuum outside the gas cloud, "uncorking" the nebula. This kind of process is called a champagne flow, and the entire area provides rich fodder for astronomers as it continuously produces new, brilliant stars.
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