In a remarkable astronomical revelation, an amateur astrophotographer has brought to light a previously unnoticed oxygen patch in the sky, now named the Phantom Stinger Nebula. This finding challenges the notion that significant celestial discoveries are exclusive to large telescopes and space observatories.
The Phantom Stinger Nebula, part of a project by amateur astronomers called New Horizons (NHZ), was identified within the 495.9-500.7 nanometer band. This wavelength range corresponds to doubly ionized oxygen, emitting two distinct spectral lines. The discovery, made within a well-studied constellation, underscores the vast unexplored regions in our cosmic neighborhood.
Story of The Amazing Celestial Discovery
Steeve Body, a music producer and accomplished astrophotographer, joined NHZ, operating from a location near Melbourne with light pollution. Using narrow filters to isolate specific wavelengths, the body captured deep-space photographs.
The NHZ team investigated nebulae identified through radio telescopes, seeking the characteristic blue glow of the oxygen III transition. Attempts often proved unsuccessful, requiring larger telescopes or extended exposure times. However, during an attempt to capture a known supernova remnant in the Scorpio constellation, Body noticed an unexpected patch of blue in the corner of his image.
Discovered a new Nebula this month! We called it "The Phantom Stinger Nebula", since it is in Scorpius right at the top of the tail. Full details here: https://t.co/DR6a2jA83R #TeamNHZ pic.twitter.com/vIt5vsBa5Z
— Steeve Body (@SteeveBody) November 22, 2023
"It's right in Scorpio's stinger, and it looks a bit like a stinger itself. It's hard to see except at this wavelength, so we called it 'The Phantom Stinger,'" Body remarked in the report by IFLS.
Further exploration revealed the Phantom Stinger Nebula, requiring 20 hours of exposure over two nights and extensive image processing. No existing records of this nebula were found, and speculation about its characteristics and origins remains.
In response to the absence of a platform for registering such discoveries, Body contemplates the need for a new catalog. Unlike Charles Messier's historic catalog, contemporary catalogs lack a comprehensive tracking system for new celestial phenomena.
JWST Releases New Images
In a separate development, the James Webb Space Telescope recently published infrared photos of the Milky Way's turbulent center. Sagittarius C (Sgr C), an active star formation location near the Milky Way's core supermassive black hole, may reveal star formation processes and the predominance of massive stars in the center. This unprecedented view captures approximately 500,000 stars, including a cluster of protostars, shedding light on the origin of heavy elements in the universe.
"The image from Webb is stunning, and the science we will get from it is even better," said Samuel Crowe, principal investigator of the observations and an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia, as quoted by CNN.
Moreover, methane and water vapor in the atmosphere of a gas giant similar to Jupiter, located about 163 light-years from Earth, were another detail that the James Webb Space Telescope discovered using its potent infrared feature. According to Space.com, astronomers observed the exoplanet WASP-80 b as it transited across its parent red dwarf star, completing an orbit roughly every three Earth days.
