Starless image of “God’s Hand” (the stars were extracted using the program Starnet). Only the smoky, hazy shapes of the luminous gas clouds, as well as the glow of the distant spiral galaxy, appear against the darkness. The effect is painterly and surreal.
Starless image of “God’s Hand” (the stars were extracted using the program Starnet). Only the smoky, hazy shapes of the luminous gas clouds, as well as the glow of the distant spiral galaxy, appear against the darkness. The effect is painterly and surreal.
Image of the star-forming region CG 4 (“God’s Hand”) — 1,300 light years away — which appears as a hand on an outstretched arm (or perhaps an open-mouthed creature with a long neck) extending from a luminous gas cloud in hues of pink and purple, in a field of hazy gases and multicolored stars. The “hand” or “mouth” appears to reach out to seize or devour a small spiral galaxy — ESO 257-19, which in reality is over 100 million light years further away. (H/t Wikipedia)

Data taken from the Amateur Astronomers Association’s Gateway Remote Telescope. Processed and edited by me using Siril, Starnet, and GIMP, with final edits in Snapseed.
Image of the star-forming region CG 4 (“God’s Hand”) — 1,300 light years away — which appears as a hand on an outstretched arm (or perhaps an open-mouthed creature with a long neck) extending from a luminous gas cloud in hues of pink and purple, in a field of hazy gases and multicolored stars. The “hand” or “mouth” appears to reach out to seize or devour a small spiral galaxy — ESO 257-19, which in reality is over 100 million light years further away. (H/t Wikipedia) Data taken from the Amateur Astronomers Association’s Gateway Remote Telescope. Processed and edited by me using Siril, Starnet, and GIMP, with final edits in Snapseed.