Hitchcock Haunts a Nebula

By Nancy Atkinson - February 01, 2012 08:29 PM UTC | Extragalactic

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First impression after seeing this new image of NGC 3324? It's Alfred Hitchcock, bulbous nose and all (see image below for comparison). The right edge of the wall of gas and dust in this star-forming region really bears a strong resemblance to the famous profile of the British film director and producer, notorious for his thriller movies from the 1940's through the 1970's.

NGC 3324 is located in the southern constellation of Carina, roughly 7500 light-years from Earth. It is on the northern outskirts of the chaotic environment of the Carina Nebula. All the gas and dust here fueled a burst of star birth several millions of years ago and led to the creation of several hefty and very hot stars that are prominent in the new picture.

[caption id="attachment_93231" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Alfred Hitchcock. Via iwatchstuff.com"]

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A nickname for the NGC 3324 region is the 'Gabriela Mistral Nebula,' after the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet but I think I'll start a petition to call it the Hitchcock Nebula. Hitchcock liked to make cameo appearances in his own movies, and perhaps he is making a pareidoliaic guest appearance here.

The new image of NGC 3324 was taken with the Wide Field Imager on the the European Southern Observatory's 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Read more about it on the ESO website

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com