Tag Archives: research on star formation
A cradle of star formation
A new image shows a nursery of stars called NGC 3324. It was taken using the Wide Field Imager attached to the MPG / ESO 2.2- metre telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile. The intense ultraviolet radiation from several young stars in NGC 3324 causes the brightness of the gas cloud in varied colors and created a cavity in the surrounding gas and dust.
NGC 3324 is located in the carina constellation (the keel, which is the part of Jason’s ship the Argo), approximately 7,200 light years from Earth. It located on the northern outskirts of the chaotic environment of the Carina Nebula, sculpted by many other cradles of star formation (eso0905). A rich deposit of gas and dust in the region of NGC 3324 fueled a burst of star birth several million years ago, which led to the creation of several heavy and very hot stars that stand out in the new image.