The sky around the star formation region RCW 106

In this huge image of part of the southern constellation of Norma (The Carpenter’s Square) wisps of crimson gas are illuminated by rare, massive stars that have only recently ignited and are still buried deep in thick dust clouds. These scorching-hot, very young stars are only fleeting characters on the cosmic stage and their origins remain mysterious. The vast nebula where these giants were born, known as RCW 106, is captured here in fine detail by ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST), at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. The brightest part appears just above the centre of the image.

Many other interesting objects are also captured in this wide-field image. For example the filaments to the right of the image are the remnants of an ancient supernova (SNR G332.4-00.4, also known as RCW 103), and the glowing red filaments at the lower left surround an unusual and very hot star (RCW 104, surrounding the Wolf–Rayet star WR 75). Patches of dark obscuring dust are also visible across the entire cosmic landscape.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso1607a
Type:Observation
Release date:2 March 2016, 12:00
Related releases:eso1607
Size:30650 x 18517 px

About the Object

Name:RCW 106
Type:Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Constellation:Norma
Category:Nebulae

Image Formats

Screensize JPEG
522.2 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
599.1 KB
1280x1024
1014.5 KB
1600x1200
1.4 MB
1920x1200
1.7 MB
2048x1536
2.4 MB

Coordinates

Position (RA):16 21 24.53
Position (Dec):-51° 11' 10.01"
Field of view:109.29 x 66.02 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° right of vertical

Colours & filters

BandTelescope
Optical
g
VLT Survey Telescope
OmegaCAM
Optical
r
VLT Survey Telescope
OmegaCAM
Optical
H-alpha
VLT Survey Telescope
OmegaCAM