Astronomy Picture Of The Day Explore the cosmos Every day, a new image or photograph of the fascinating universe is presented along with a short explanation by an astronomer. 2021 July 26CG4: A Broken Cometary GlobuleImage Credit and Copyright: Nicolas Rolland, Martin PughExplanation: A gas cloud can grab a galaxy. It is not even close. This strange-looking "creature", as seen in the featured photograph, is actually a gas cloud called a "cometary globule". However, the globule has now burst. Dusty heads and long tails are common characteristics of cometary globules. Although cometary globules may look similar to comets due to these features, they are quite different in real life. Globules are often the birthplaces for stars and many have very young stars in them. It is unknown what caused the object's head to burst. The galaxy to the left is enormous and very far away. It was only by chance superposition that it was near CG4.
