A ghostly “cosmic bat” nebula, glowing red with newborn stars, has been captured by ESO’s telescope in Chile.
Just in time for Halloween, astronomers have captured the image of a bat-like figure soaring across the night sky over the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal site in Chile. Using its exceptionally wide field of view, the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) recorded a vast cloud of interstellar gas and dust whose ghostly outline looks strikingly like the shape of a flying bat.
Situated around 10,000 light-years from Earth, this “cosmic bat” appears to drift between the southern constellations of Circinus and Norma. The nebula stretches across a portion of the sky roughly equal to four full Moons. In the image, it seems to be swooping toward a glowing patch of light above it, giving the impression of a predator on the hunt.
This mysterious structure is actually a stellar nursery—a vast region of gas and dust where new stars are forming. Young stars inside release enough radiation to energize the surrounding hydrogen gas, causing it to shine in deep shades of red. The darker, thread-like features resemble the bat’s skeletal wings. These filaments are cooler and denser than the surrounding material, with dust particles that obscure the starlight behind them.
The nebula’s main features correspond to well-known star-forming regions cataloged in the southern sky. RCW 94 makes up the right wing of the bat, while RCW 95 forms the central body. The remaining parts of the structure have not been given official names, adding to the nebula’s eerie, otherworldly allure.
This extraordinary view was made possible by the VST, a telescope operated by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and located at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The telescope is ideally suited for photographing expansive cosmic formations like this one. Mounted on it is OmegaCAM, a 268-megapixel camera that allows astronomers to capture exceptionally detailed, wide-field images of the night sky.
To create the final image, scientists merged data collected through several filters, each designed to capture different wavelengths of light. The red glow outlining most of the bat’s shape was recorded in visible light through the VST Photometric Hα Survey of the Southern Galactic Plane and Bulge (VPHAS+). Additional infrared observations from ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA), gathered as part of the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) survey, reveal hidden details in the nebula’s densest regions.
Both surveys are publicly available, inviting anyone to explore these breathtaking cosmic vistas. Look closer, if you dare, and let your curiosity wander through the haunting beauty of the universe. Happy Halloween!
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