Zooming in on Star Formation in the Southern Milky Way | ESO

Zooming in on Star Formation in the Southern Milky Way | ESO

This zoom sequence takes the viewer deep into the spectacular southern Milky Way in the constellation of Carina (The Keel). We see two regions where stars are forming, the very rich cluster NGC 3603 and its surroundings and the strange glowing gas clouds known as NGC 3576. The final detailed views come from images taken with the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.

The star cluster NGC 3603 is located 20,000 light-years away in the Carina–Sagittarius spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The collection of glowing gas clouds, known as NGC 3576, lies only about half as far from Earth.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/G. Beccari/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)

Duration: 50 seconds

Release Date: Sept. 1, 2014

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