Zooming in on the NGC 6164/6165 nebula surrounding the HD 148937 stellar pair

This zoom video transports us from a broad view of the Milky Way in the sky all the way to the cloudy nebula NGC 6164/6165 (also known as the Dragon’s Egg), home to the fascinating star system HD 148937 right at its centre. Using nine years’ of data from the ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer and other telescopes, astronomers have inferred that this pair of stars used to be a trio, until two fatally merged into one younger, magnetic star, releasing the stunning nebula you see in this video.

For more details, check: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2407/

Credits: ESO/L. Calçada, N. Risinger (skysurvey.org), DSS, VPHAS+ team. Music: Martin Stuertzer