NGC 3324 in Carina
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Martin Pugh
Explanation:
This
bright cosmic cloud
was sculpted by stellar
winds and radiation from the hot young stars
of open cluster NGC 3324.
With dust clouds in silhouette against its glowing atomic gas, the
pocket-shaped
star-forming region actually spans about 35 light-years.
It lies some 7,500 light-years away toward the nebula rich
southern constellation
Carina.
A composite of narrowband image data, the telescopic view
captures the characteristic emission from ionized sulfur, hydrogen,
and oxygen atoms mapped to red, green, and blue hues in the
popular Hubble Palette.
For some, the celestial landscape of bright ridges of
emission bordered by cool, obscuring
dust along
the right side create a recognizable face in profile.
The region's popular name is the
Gabriela
Mistral Nebula for the Nobel Prize winning Chilean poet.
Source: NASA