COMETARY GLOBULES 30 & 31

 INTERSTELLAR DUST CLOUD IN PUPPIS (THE POOP DECK)

(Image centered at: ra 08h:08 m / dec - 35º 59')

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR A HIGH RESOLUTION VIEW

November 2025, Observatorio Cielos Albertnos, Buenos Aires, Argentina

DATA

TYPE: Cometary Globules

APPARENT DIAMETER:  30 x 50 arc minutes

APPARENT MAGNITUDE (V): n/a

DISTANCE: 1000 light years

IMAGE INFORMATION

INSTRUMENT: Orion Optics UK 6" Newtonian with Ultra Grade Optics working at f 5

CAMERA: QSI 583WS Mono Camera

MOUNT: SKY WATCHER NEQ6 Guided off axis with SX Lodestar Mono Camera 

FILTERS: Baader LRGB Set & Antlia Ha 3nm O3 3nm

SKY CONDITIONS: Bortle 3 skies

OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

CG30 and CG31 are part of a Cometary Globule grouping located in Pupis and Vela within the Gum Nebula. The region is located roughly 1,000 light years away from us. Only discovered in 1976, Cometary Globules (aka CGs) are interstellar clouds that show a head ± tail morphology similar to the comets. The heads are compact and bright-rimmed. They are completely opaque so that no background stars are seen through them. A faintly luminous tail extending from the head generally points away from a nearby bright early-type star. Systems of CGs have been found in a number of star-forming regions with massive OB type stars. The complex also includes dark dust clouds and a Herbig-Haro object (HH 120), and shows signs of recent star formation within its head.