Thank you for your patience while we retrieve your images.
Taken 28-Jan-18
Visitors 3


125 of 204 photos
Thumbnails
Info
Categories & Keywords

Category:
Subcategory:
Subcategory Detail:
Keywords:Westerlund 2
Photo Info

Dimensions2100 x 1500
Original file size2.97 MB
Image typeJPEG
Color spaceUnknown
Date modified28-Jan-18 22:06
hs-2015-12-a 5x7

hs-2015-12-a 5x7

NASA and ESA are celebrating the Hubble Space Telescope's silver anniversary of 25 years in space by unveiling some of nature's own fireworks - a giant cluster of about 3,000 stars called Westerlund 2. The cluster resides inside a vibrant stellar breeding ground known as Gum 29, located 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina. The comparatively young, 2-million-year-old star cluster contains some of our galaxy's hottest, brightest, and most massive stars. The largest stars are unleashing a torrent of ultraviolet light and hurricane-force winds that etch away the enveloping hydrogen gas cloud. This creates a fantasy celestial landscape of pillars, ridges, and valleys.