Giant space blob glows from within

This image shows one of the largest known single objects in the Universe, the Lyman-alpha blob LAB-1. This picture is a composite of two different images taken with the FORS instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT)  — a wider image showing the surrounding galaxies and a much deeper observation of the blob itself at the centre made to detect its polarisation. The intense Lyman-alpha ultraviolet radiation from the blob appears green after it has been stretched by the expansion of the Universe during its long journey to Earth. These new observations show for the first time that the light from this object is polarised. This means that the giant "blob" must be powered by galaxies embedded within the cloud. 

Credit:

ESO/M. Hayes 

About the Image

Id:eso1130a
Type:Observation
Release date:17 August 2011, 19:00
Related releases:eso1632, eso1130
Size:2042 x 2042 px

About the Object

Name:LAB-1
Type:Early Universe : Cosmology : Morphology : Large-Scale Structure
Distance:z=3.1 (redshift)
Constellation:Aquarius
Category:Cosmology

Image Formats

Large JPEG
597.4 KB
Screensize JPEG
146.8 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
170.5 KB
1280x1024
251.1 KB
1600x1200
324.8 KB
1920x1200
347.4 KB
2048x1536
450.1 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):22 17 25.78
Position (Dec):0° 12' 39.20"
Field of view:1.60 x 1.60 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 9.9° right of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
B
Very Large Telescope
FORS2
Optical
OIII
500 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Optical
Pseudogreen (B+R)
Very Large Telescope
FORS2
Optical
V
Very Large Telescope
FORS2