Starburst region NGC 3603 IRS 9

Sky region around the very young infrared sources IRS 9, located about 8.5 light-years south of the NGC 3603 cluster. IRS 9A-C represent the brightest members of a sparse association of protostars, still embedded in circumstellar envelopes, but in a region of the pristine molecular cloud core, now largely "blown-free" from gas and dust. The intrinsic brightness of these nascent stars is impressive: 100,000, 1000 and 1000 times that of the Sun for IRS 9A, IRS 9B and IRS 9C, respectively.