Quick facts<\/p>\n
What it is: Emission nebula NGC 6820 and open star cluster NGC 6823<\/p>\n
Where it is: 6,000 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula<\/p>\n
When it was shared: Nov. 19, 2025<\/p>\n
This spectacular image of an emission nebula \u2014 a cloud of gas and dust lit up by nearby stars \u2014 and a nearby star cluster has been published by the Gemini Observatory to mark its 25th anniversary.<\/p>\n
Reminiscent of the iconic “Pillars of Creation” image of the Eagle Nebula taken in 1995<\/a> by the Hubble Space Telescope<\/a> and more recently<\/a> by the James Webb Space Telescope<\/a>, the anniversary image shows the emission nebula, NGC 6820, as well as the star cluster NGC 6823.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The image, which is available as a zoomable<\/a> version online, captures the hot, massive stars in NGC 6823 \u2014 shown as specks of blue-white light \u2014 illuminating the veil of red gas that comprises NGC 6820. The pillars in the image are gas and dust sculpted by the stars’ intense radiation.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n NGC 6820 and NGC 6823 lie in the middle of the Summer Triangle<\/a>, the famous asterism created by the bright stars Deneb, Vega and Altair. They\u2019re visible low in the west immediately after dark, as seen from the Northern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n In Hawaii \u2014 home to the Gemini North telescope, which began operations in June 1999 \u2014 the Summer Triangle is known as M\u0101naiakalani, the Great Fishhook of Maui. As part of the image\u2019s release, it\u2019s been named Ua ‘\u014chi’a Lani, which means the Heavenly ‘\u014chi’a Rains, by four local high school students participating in the University of Hawaii’s Project H\u014dk\u016blani summer internship.<\/p>\n The image was taken using the Gemini North telescope on the summit of Maunakea, a shield volcano on Hawaii that hosts 13 large telescope observatories. However, the International Gemini Observatory comprises twin 8-meter telescopes, with the other \u2014 Gemini South \u2014 located on Cerro Pach\u00f3n in the Chilean Andes. It achieved first light in November 2000. Together, the two scopes give astronomers access to nearly the entire night sky.<\/p>\n “This image is crimson and red like lava because of the abundance of hydrogen gas present in the nebula,” Hope Arthur, one of the Gemini interns, said in a statement<\/a>. The name comes from a story about Pele, the goddess of volcanoes and fire in Hawaiian religion and the creator of the Hawaiian Islands.<\/p>\n “One of Pele’s most well-known stories is that of ‘\u014chi’a and Lehua. Their story is about regrowth after tragedy and the act of new beginnings, which we felt was evocative of the cycle of stellar life, death, and rebirth,” Arthur said.<\/p>\n “The baby blue stars in the image reminded us of rain and how, in the story of ‘\u014chi’a and Lehua, when you pick the lehua blossoms, it rains,” added Iolani Sanches, an intern at the University of Hawaii at M\u0101noa.<\/p>\n