CG4 – The Hand of Creation

Image Title: CG4 God's Hand Cometary Globule in HaLRGB

Copyright: Capturing Ancient Photons

Date image was taken: November 01, 2025

Location: Perth, Western Australia

Data Acquisition Method: Personal Telescope Setup

Description and Details: Captured over 1,300 light-years away in the constellation of Puppis, the spectacular cosmic structure known as CG4, or more popularly, "God's Hand", presents one of the Milky Way's most striking celestial sights. This object is a prime example of a cometary globule, characterised by a dense, opaque head of dust and gas and an extraordinarily long, faint tail. CG4's dusty head spans about 1.5 light-years across and glows faintly as the light of nearby, hot, massive stars illuminates it. Its remarkable 8-light-year-long tail streams away, giving the entire structure a ghostly, claw-like or hand-like appearance that inspires its popular nickname. A visually stunning element of CG4 is its seeming interaction with the background edge-on spiral galaxy ESO 257-19. While it appears that the "hand" is reaching out to devour the galaxy, the spiral galaxy is, in reality, hundreds of millions of light-years more distant and is merely a spectacular chance alignment from our earthly perspective. The exact process that shapes cometary globules is still a topic of debate, but stellar winds and intense radiation from nearby hot stars are thought to be actively eroding and sculpting the gas and dust into these unique, elongated forms.
57x900s Ha 81x300s RGB and 60x180s Lum subs shot at 0C over 13 nights for a total integration time of 24 hrs.
For a higher resolution visit: https://www.astrobin.com/full/azmluw/0/

Equipment used:
Skywatcher 10" f4 Newtonian 250P
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher EQ6 Pro
ZWO ASI2600MM Pro Cooled Camera
ZWO Camera Angle Adjuster
ZWO ASI290MM Mini Guide Camera
William Optics 50mm Uniguide
ZWO Electronic Filter Wheel
Antlia Pro 36mm unmounted filters

Name: Carlos Taylor

Website or Facebook Profile: https://www.astrobin.com/azmluw/