New Image of Omega Nebula Shows Rosy Cosmos

(EndPlay Staff Reports) - The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope has released a new image of the Omega Nebula, a breeding ground for stars located in the constellation of Sagittarius.

The observatory called the image one of the sharpest of the nebula ever taken from the ground. The rose-colored image shows a cosmic landscape of gas clouds, dust and newborn bright, blue-white stars that light up the entire scene.

The smoky-looking ribbons are dust silhouetted by the glowing gas. The reddish tone comes from hydrogen gas that glows because of the ultraviolet rays from the stars.

The observatory reported it took the image with the Focal Reducer and Spectrograph instrument on Antu, one of the VLT's four unit telescopes. The image's sharpness is credited with not only the size of the telescope but the steadiness of the air when the images were taken.

The Huffington Post stated the Omega Nebula is about 6,000 light years from Earth. It is also known as the Swan, Checkmark, Lobster or Horseshoe nebula.

There's about 35 stars in the nebula, Wired reported. It's thought to be close to the Eagle nebula, located in the same area of the Milky Way.

The VLT is located in Chile. Fifteen countries support the European Southern Observatory, which in 2012 marks its 50th anniversary.