Credit: International Gemini Observatory, National Science Foundation and the University of Hawaii Adaptive Optics Group

The object, known by the unglamorous name of IRS8, was only an ill-defined smudge until Gemini came along. Now, the Gemini telescope's advanced optics show that IRS8 appears to be a star that is plowing through a poorly understood gas and dust cloud near the galactic center. Moving relative to the cloud, the star creates a very obvious bow-shock wave, similar to the wave that forms in front of a boat as it goes through water. See Image Release for details Technical Details: Images obtained in July and August 2000 using Gemini with Hokupa'a/QUIRC Adaptive Optics system. Each image is made from H (1.65µm) and K' (2.1µm) filters. Pixel scale is approximately 0.02 arcsec/pixel. Integration times ranged from 10-15 minutes pe

Provider: NOIRLab

Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/gemini-bowshock-color/

Curator: NSF's NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License