Thursday, April 7, 2011

Extreme Star-Forming Region NGC 3603 as seen by Hubble

Extreme Star-Forming Region NGC 3603 as seen by Hubble
Click on the image for full resolution (8.9 MB)

The star-forming region NGC 3603 - seen here in the latest Hubble Space Telescope image - contains one of the most impressive massive young star clusters in the Milky Way. Bathed in gas and dust the cluster formed in a huge rush of star formation thought to have occurred around a million years ago. The hot blue stars at the core are responsible for carving out a huge cavity in the gas seen to the right of the star cluster in NGC 3603's center.
The full resolution image weighs 8.9 MB, so please be patient when downloading!
Credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

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