74 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2019
BREAKTHROUGH
TAKING
FLIGHT
DOWN THE
MILKY WAY
The Seagull Nebula
(IC 2177) is a vast
complex of emission
and reflection nebulae
soaring along our
galaxy’s spine. The
nebula lies on the
border between Canis
Major and Monoceros,
about 8° northeast of
brilliant Sirius. Caught
in mid-flap, the gull’s
wings span some
100 light-years from
tip to tip. The Seagull’s
head — the more
compact region of
ionized gas seen to the
right of the wings —
glows by re-emitting the
light radiating from the
luminous 20-solar-mass
star at its center.
Astronomers took
this image with the
2.6-meter VLT Survey
Telescope on Cerro
Paranal in Chile. ESO/VPHAS+
TEAM/N.J. WRIGHT (KEELE UNIVERSITY)