Space and Physics
PUBLISHED
This awe inspiring image was created from a composition of long exposure shots captured over the ESO's La Silla Observatory by Petr Horálek throughout January 2015.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.Horálek managed to capture no fewer than 6 stunning celestial phenomema:
- Comet Lovejoy takes centre stage glowing green in the middle of the image
- The California Nebular makes an appearance throwing an arc of red gas across the sky (to the right of Comet Lovejoy)
- The consolation Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, can be spotted with a keen eye just to the right of Comet Lovejoy.
- In the top left you can see a meteor making its way across the sky
- The horizon can be seen glowing green as a result of a collection of oxygen in the upper atmosphere
- The hazy smog settling above the observatory is as a result of low altitude cloud
- And the (not-so-other-worldly) Pan American Highway can be seen cutting across the middle of the image.
Hi-resolution downloads of the image can be found here
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