🔮 The Hand of God Nebula - CG4 🔮

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Dive into the enigmatic beauty of CG4, also poetically known as the Hand of God Nebula. This celestial object combines mystery and wonder, with its claw-like shape grasping towards the galaxy NGC 1888.

🔭 Target: CG4 (Cometary Globule 4)

📍 Location: Constellation Puppis, about 1,300 light-years away

🌟 Apparent Magnitude: Faint (requires a large telescope and long exposure to observe)

CG4's apparent size measures approximately 1.4 x 2 arcminutes for the main structure, while the tail extends up to about 8 arcminutes. For comparison, the full Moon spans about 30 arcminutes in the sky.

About the Nebula:

CG4 is part of a class of nebulae called cometary globules, featuring dense heads and elongated tails. These globules are regions of interstellar dust and gas where star formation can occur. The “claw” is illuminated by nearby bright stars, causing the eerie glow seen in this image.

The nebula's ominous shape appears to reach toward NGC 1888, a distant galaxy, creating a striking cosmic juxtaposition. This pairing highlights the vastness of the universe, as the galaxy is millions of light-years away, far beyond CG4's reach.

🎨 Processing Notes:

This image beautifully contrasts the nebula's intricate structure with the backdrop of stars and the distant galaxy. The reddish hues of ionized gas blend seamlessly with the darker, dust-laden regions, emphasizing the depth of this stunning cosmic scene.

Lights: 22x600" Halpha, 30x600" Luminance, 16x600" Red, 16x600" Green, 16x600" Blu

Instruments: Telescope Planewave CDK24, Camera FLI ProLine PL9000, Filters Astrodon

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