CG4 – A cometary globule, a.k.a. the “Hand of God”, stretching toward a distant galaxy

CG4 stands for Cometary Globule 4. It is the fourth object in a catalog of cometary globules identified in the Gum Nebula region. CG4 (Cometary Globule 4) is a small star-forming cloud shaped like a comet—its head dense and dark, its tail sculpted by stellar winds and radiation. Here it appears to stretch toward a distant galaxy, a striking line-of-sight illusion across vast cosmic distances. Stack in AstroPixelProcessor, and processed in PixInsight and Photoshop.