APY Masterclass Bring out a nebula’s fiery features
y winning entry in the ‘Stars and Nebulae’ category at the 2020 Astronomer Photographer of the Year competition is entitled ‘Cosmic Inferno’. It features the emission nebula NGC 3576, one the most intriguing nebulae in the southern skies. It has striking features, with great loops of ionised gas that stretch over 100 lightyears into the vacuum of space. Indeed, astronomers have identified polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons within NGC 3576, hydrocarbons being an essential component for the formation of the earliest life on Earth. And 3.7 billion years after life first appeared on our
