Tag Archives: NGC 3572

Behold: the glowing gas and dust clouds of NGC 3572 – a beautiful emission nebula and star cluster of the Southern skies. So much to see. To wit:

…the region is often overlooked by astro-imagers in favour of its brighter neighbour, the nearby Carina Nebula. Stars from NGC 3572 are toward the upper left in the telescopic frame that would measure about 100 light-years across at the cluster’s estimated distant of 9,000 light-years. The visible interstellar gas and dust is part of the star cluster’s natal molecular cloud. Dense streamers of material within the nebula, eroded by stellar winds and radiation, clearly trail away from the energetic young stars. They are likely sites of ongoing star formation with shapes reminiscent of the cosmic Tadpoles of IC 410 better known to northern skygazers. In the coming tens to hundreds of millions of years, gas and stars in the cluster will be dispersed though, by gravitational tides and by violent supernova explosions that end the short lives of the massive cluster stars.

(Image: Josep Drudis)

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Star formation is a colourful business – as evidenced by this chromatic cosmic portrait of glowing gas and dark dust near some recently formed stars of NGC 3572 – a cluster near the Carina Nebula. To wit:

Stars from NGC 3572 are visible near the bottom of the image, while the expansive gas cloud above is likely what remains of their formation nebula. The image‘s striking hues were created by featuring specific colors emitted by hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur, and blending themwith images recorded through broadband filters in red, green, and blue. This nebula near NGC 3572 spans about 100 light years and lies about 9,000 light years away toward the southern constellation of the Ship’s Keel (Carina). Within a few million years the pictured gas will likely disperse, while gravitational encounters will likely disperse the cluster stars over about a billion years.

(Image: Andrew Campbell)

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