Seeing Red - Crimson Trails Reveal A Nursery of Newborn Stars
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As news of newborn leopards spreads like wildfire across the United States, news from South America reveals a few dozens other births; of stars, that is.
As seen in the crimson-filled photo released just this morning the European Southern Observatory (ESO), a coalition of 15 different national space exploration agencies, reported two star nurseries found in a southern nebula of our very own Milky Way galaxy.The historic image, that shows just a glimpse of several star formations, was captured by telescopes at the La Silla Observatory in the Atacama desert of Chile.
"[The image] shows two dramatic star formations in the southern Milky Way" ESO spokespersons said in a press release. "The first of these, on the left, is dominated by the star cluster NGC 3603, located 20000 light-years away, in the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The second object, on the right, is a collection of glowing gas clouds known as NGC 3576 that lies only half as far from Earth."
The two clusters which appear side-by-side, are independent formations many light-years apart that are highly recognizable because of their stellar activity.
NGC 3603, a cluster very active in star formation, is famed for having the greatest concentration of massive stars in the galaxy. The cluster glows red as ultraviolet radiation released from these young stars energizes Hydrogen gas producing a luminous crimson hue, much like the glow of a neon light. And NGC 3576, which is often spoken of as the cluster with "ram's horns", is distinct in that the red clouds of light are upturned, as stellar winds blow gas and star particles away from the center of the nebulous.
Although both clusters were first discovered in 1834 by famed astronomer John Herschel, and have been well documented, this discovery not only helps scientists confirm their understanding of cosmic radiation in stellar activity but also catch a glimpse at the birth of an entire generation of stars.
