{
  "id": 2768990,
  "title": "'Starry Night' telescope photo captures some of the oldest stars in the universe — Space photo of the week",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/23/starry-night-telescope-photo-captures-some-of-the-oldest-stars-in-the",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-23T10:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Live Science",
    "slug": "live-science",
    "url": "https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/starry-night-telescope-photo-captures-some-of-the-oldest-stars-in-the-universe-space-photo-of-the-week"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A breathtaking photograph of the Corona Australis Molecular Cloud, captured by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Victor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope in Chile, has unveiled some of the oldest stars in the universe. The image, reminiscent of Van Gogh's The Starry Night, showcases swirling nebulae, dark dust lanes, and sparkling star clusters with exceptional detail.\n\nSituated just 430 light-years away in the constellation Corona Australis, the Corona Australis Molecular Cloud is an active star-forming region where temperatures plummet to around minus 440 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 260 degrees Celsius). This extreme cold enables dense pockets of gas and dust to collapse and give rise to new stars.\n\nThe 570-megapixel DECam, equipped with 74 detectors and a 3-foot-wide (1 meter) lens, is one of the world's most powerful wide-field astronomical instruments. The DECam's image reveals a combination of star-forming regions alongside an ancient globular cluster, all within a single field of view.\n\nThe nebula NGC 6729, located on the left, is flanked by a reflection nebula, caused by dust reflecting starlight, and an emission nebula, formed when ultraviolet radiation from a young star ionizes gas. At its core is R Coronae Australis, a binary star system with stars orbiting each other every 43 to 47 years.\n\nOn the upper right, the globular cluster NGC 6723, also known as the Chandelier Cluster, is visible. Spanning 29,000 light-years from Earth, this cluster contains hundreds of thousands of stars that formed billions of years ago, some of which are nearly as old as the universe itself. NGC 6729 and NGC 6723 are popular targets for astronomers and astrophotographers due to their relatively close proximity to Earth, although they are best observed from the Southern Hemisphere.",
  "summary": "The Corona Australis Molecular Cloud shines in a stunning new image revealing glowing nebulae, newborn stars and the Chandelier Cluster.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}