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Cloud of Stars Glows a Rosy Red in New View of Nebula

A distant group of hot, young stars is causing a cloud of hydrogen gas to glow a rosy red 7,300 light-years from Earth.
This new image from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile reveals a cloud of hydrogen and newborn stars called Gum 41. In the middle of this little-known nebula, brilliant hot young stars emit energetic radiation that causes the surrounding hydrogen to glow with a characteristic red hue.
This new image from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile reveals a cloud of hydrogen and newborn stars called Gum 41. In the middle of this little-known nebula, brilliant hot young stars emit energetic radiation that causes the surrounding hydrogen to glow with a characteristic red hue.ESO
/ Source: Space.com

A distant group of hot, young stars is causing a cloud of hydrogen gas to glow a rosy red 7,300 light-years from Earth in the latest amazing view from a telescope in Chile.

The cloud known as Gum 41, which lies in the constellation Centaurus, stars in a new photo released by the European Southern Observatory on Wednesday. Radiation emitted by the newborn stars near the middle of the image gives the hydrogen a rosy glow, ESO officials said. You can explore the new nebula photo in a video produced by ESO.

A telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile captured the new photo. The observatory is run by ESO, an intergovernmental astronomy organization supported by 15 countries in Europe and South America.

— Miriam Kramer, Space.com

This is a condensed version of a report from Space.com. Read the full report. Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter and Google+. Follow Space.com on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.