Highlights of The Carina Nebula (infrared view) | ESO

Highlights of The Carina Nebula (infrared view) | ESO

These highlights are part of a broader view of the Carina Nebula, a region of massive star formation in the southern skies. It was taken in infrared light using the HAWK-I camera on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. This stellar nursery contains dark nebulae where new stars are forming, clusters of young stars and many curious features sculpted from huge clouds of gas and dust.

Distance from Earth: approximately 8,500 light-years

The image section at the center shows the star cluster Trumpler 14 and also reveals a strange golden crescent-shaped cloud. The cutout at the center of the bottom row features a dark cloud known as the caterpillar at the bottom and obscured young stars at the top. The small cluster of stars, appearing yellow in the cutout at the lower right, was discovered in this image.

Credit: ESO/T. Preibisch
Release Date: Feb. 8, 2012

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Stars #Trumpler14 #Tr14 #StarClusters #BokGlobules #Nebulae #CarinaNebula #NGC3372 #Carina #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education