Westerlund 2 and Gum 29

This image is showing the complex stellar nursery Gum 29 in the constellation Carina within a dense star field. It is characterized by strong emission clouds and filaments in H-alpha and O-III.
At its centre lies a cluster of young stars named Westerlund 2. An object at the bottom of this cluster is in fact a system of two of most massive stars known to astronomers.

Find as a comparison a closer view on this cluster taken by the Hubble Space Telescope here.

Image data:

Ha OIII RGB (360-360-120-120-120 min) total 18 h, north is up, seeing 0.9-1.3 arc-sec,
80cm f/7 Astrooptik Keller cassegrain, FLI PL-16803, Baader filters, Prompt 7 CTIO Chile

Processing: Johannes Schedler

Find the full frame image in 25/60% size below

click for 60% size

Find a center crop of this nebula in 45/100% size below

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Last modified on Monday, 31 August 2015 22:29

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