Space, the final frontier, these are the voyages
of - oh no wait - these are some pictures take
by the European Southern Observatory's Very
Large Telescope, or VLT for short.
So, while the observatory's astronomers may
not have boldy gone into space themselves,
they did capture these incredibly detailed
images of the Toby Jug Nebula. The telescope,
which is in Chile, took these photographs
which show a giant red star with wispy clouds
of dust and gas loosely forming the shape
of a beer jug and handle around it.
But Astronomer and ESO representative Fernando
Comeron says the images offer more than just
pretty views of space.
"They are not only spectacular images - images
with colour, images that evoke aesthetic pleasure
- but they also contain a great quantity of
information and give us very important details
on the composition and evolution of the universe
as well as looking at its great relationship
with us.
This nebula is formed by a red giant and that's
where the interstellar dust is formed, which
is fundamental material in the make-up of
the planets and all the phenomena occurring
on the surface, including us. They are, in
a sense, our own origins."
According to the ESO the nebula was formed
by a star losing part of its mass and it was
dubbed Toby Jug by British astronomers Paul
Murdin, David Allen and David Malin who though
its shape evoked that of the British beer
jug.
The Very Large Telescope that captured the
images is the world's most advanced optical
instrument, according to the ESO. And it can
see details up to 25 times finer than individual
telescopes.
