The Omega Nebula, M17, captured by the VLT. (ESO)

The Omega Nebula glows pink with hydrogen gas illuminated by intense ultraviolet radiation from massive young blue-white stars in this well-known star-forming region in the Milky Way.

This image is the sharpest taken from a ground-based instrument, and was obtained with the FORS (FOcal Reducer and Spectrograph) instrument on Antu, one of the four Unit Telescopes of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope at Paranal in Chile.

Exceptionally steady air on the night of the observations contributed to the quality of the image, which shows the filaments of dust silhouetted against the glowing gas clouds.

More information

www.eso.org/public/news/eso1201