This Hubble Space Telescope image of the gigantic nebula NGC 3603 shows in extraordinary beauty one of the most prominent young star clusters in the Milky Way. It is located in the Carina spiral arm of our galaxy at a distance of about 20,000 light-years. Most of the bright stars in the image are hot, blue stars with intense ultraviolet radiation and violent winds that have formed an enormous cavity in the gas and dust surrounding the cluster. Star clusters such as these are formed by the gravitational collapse of a huge cloud of gas and dust. They offer an opportunity to study the evolution of stars with differing masses, but similar composition and age.
CERN Courier
Oct 19, 2007
Picture of the month
About the author
Compiled by Marc Türler, INTEGRAL Science Data Centre and Observatory of Geneva University.