US EditionVLT Survey Telescope Captures Spooky Bat Signal in the Sky
The VLT Survey Telescope captured a large star-forming nebula resembling a bat, spanning an area equivalent to four full moons, about 10,000 light-years away.
- On 31 October 2025, the European Southern Observatory released an image of a bat-shaped nebula taken with the VLT Survey Telescope at Paranal Observatory in Chile's Atacama Desert.
- The nebula's appearance stems from young stars energizing hydrogen atoms, while dark filaments and dust grains block starlight, carving the bat-like silhouette.
- OmegaCAM's 268-megapixel instrument provided detailed wide-field capture, combining visible filters and infrared observations from VISTA, ESO's Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy.
- The ESO released the image on Halloween, offering stargazers a seasonal treat while encouraging the public to explore the publicly available survey data.
- Survey teams note the image belongs to VPHAS+ and VVV projects, combining visible and infrared data to map the Milky Way plane and link RCW 94 and RCW 95 to the bat-shaped nebula.
17 Articles
17 Articles
The Universe Just Sent Us a Spooky Bat Signal
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 [...]
Science Daily
Conservative AngleAstronomers capture a spooky “cosmic bat” in deep space
Astronomers have captured a haunting image of a “cosmic bat” spreading its wings across deep space. This nebula, 10,000 light-years away, glows crimson as newborn stars ignite clouds of gas and dust.
Giant Cosmic 'Bat' Spotted On Halloween Shows Stars Being Born In Real Time
A massive bat-shaped cloud appeared in telescope images released on Halloween, spanning an area four times the size of a full moon. The post Giant Cosmic ‘Bat’ Spotted On Halloween Shows Stars Being Born In Real Time appeared first on Study Finds.
A spooky cosmic bat was spotted fluttering in the Halloween sky of the southern hemisphere: its image was in fact taken by the Vlt Survey Telescope, the telescope of the National Institute of Astrophysics hosted at the Osservat... (ANSA)
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