BYU telescope captures Halloween sights in the stars?

Astronomers Mike Joner and David Laney at BYU’s West Mountain Observatory have been busy using Utah’s largest optical telescope to capture images of the ghostly shell of gases from a massive star that blew up thousands of years ago.

The Veil Nebula is 2000 light years away and 100 light years across and gets its colors from the expanding shockwave that resulted from the violent death of a vanished star.

Two of the colorful pieces of this expanding shell of gasses have a Halloween feel to them – one has long been known as "The Witch’s Broom,” while the other has been named by BYU astronomers as the “Fiery Owl Nebula.”

Whether you see the witch or not or you think the owl looks more like a bat, take a minute to enjoy the marvels of space as shot by BYU astronomers and students with the 36-inch BYU West Mountain Observatory telescope.

These images were captured with filters to bring out the glow of the hydrogen, ionized oxygen and sulfur and later stitched together with data from imaging guru Rob Gendler.

More Information on This Article

Article Source/Further Information

News and Events

Image for Acoustics group studies the roar of SpaceX's Starship
Acoustics group studies the roar of SpaceX's Starship
Acoustics faculty and students measure the thunderous noise of the world’s most powerful rocket, exploring its impact on communities and the environment.
Image for Dr. Kent Gee Receives Top faculty Award
Dr. Kent Gee Receives Top faculty Award
Dr. Kent Gee has been named the recipient of the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award
Image for Particle Physics Class
Particle Physics Class
After 3 years of being offered as 513R, elementary particle physics is finally an official course and accepted for credit in the physics major!
Image for Acoustics Major Officially Offered at BYU
Acoustics Major Officially Offered at BYU
The BYU Physics & Astronomy department recently introduced the Applied Physics: Acoustics degree.
Image for Drs. Davis and Vanfleet Receive 2024 BYU Technology Transfer Awards
Drs. Davis and Vanfleet Receive 2024 BYU Technology Transfer Awards
BYU Physics and Astronomy Professors Dr. Davis and Dr. Vanfleet recently received the 2024 award for outstanding achievement in technology transfer from the BYU Technology Transfer Office.
Image for A Practical Scientist’s Field Guide to Dealing with Science and Religion.
A Practical Scientist’s Field Guide to Dealing with Science and Religion.
Dr. Michael Ware hopes to help students develop the skills to navigate discussion of science and religion
Image for Dr. Stephens’ Sabbatical to University of Arizona
Dr. Stephens’ Sabbatical to University of Arizona
Dr. Stephens participated in a research project at the University of Arizona focused on studying brown dwarfs using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Image for BYU Women Represent at CUWiP 2024
BYU Women Represent at CUWiP 2024
21 women student attend conference at Montana State University, where students engaged in keynote speeches, panels, and research presentations.
Image for Dr. John Colton’s Sabbatical to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Dr. John Colton’s Sabbatical to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Dr. John Colton embarked on a six-month sabbatical at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado to explore the use of terahertz radiation in probing the chiral properties of hybrid perovskite materials, a research area previously unfamiliar to him.
Image for Nathan Powers, Updated labs and AAPT lab committee work
Nathan Powers, Updated labs and AAPT lab committee work
Dr. Powers initiated the effort to update BYU’s physics undergraduate lab curriculum in 2015. The revamped curriculum, aimed at teaching students how to construct knowledge from experiments.
Image for Drs. Campbell and Stokes Awarded Top Crystallographic Association Award
Drs. Campbell and Stokes Awarded Top Crystallographic Association Award
In July 2025, Drs. Branton Campbell and Harold Stokes (BYU Emeritus Professor) will receive the Kenneth N. Trueblood Award from the American Crystallographic Association for exceptional achievement in computational crystallography.
Image for New Weather Station
New Weather Station
A group of undergraduate students braved the heat and heights of the ESC roof to install a new weather station. The station is up and running, and will hopefully record data for years to come.
Image for Study analyzes distant Kuiper Belt object with NASA's Hubble data
Study analyzes distant Kuiper Belt object with NASA's Hubble data
Using data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a new study suggests that an object previously thought to be a binary system may be a rare triple system of orbiting bodies.
Image for BYU’s Rising Astronomers Take Center Stage at the Winter AAS Conference
BYU’s Rising Astronomers Take Center Stage at the Winter AAS Conference
In early January 2025, a group of 16 students from Brigham Young University’s Physics & Astronomy Department showcased their research at the prestigious American Astronomical Society (AAS) in National Harbor, Maryland.