Burst of Celestial Fireworks

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, R. O'Connell (University of Virginia), F. Paresce (National Institute for Astrophysics, Bologna, Italy), E. Young (Universities Space Research Association/Ames Research Center), the WFC3 Science Oversight Committee, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Like a July 4 fireworks display, a young, glittering collection of stars resembles an aerial burst. The cluster is surrounded by clouds of interstellar gas and dust - the raw material for new star formation. The nebula, located 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina, contains a central cluster of huge, hot stars, called NGC 3603.

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Source / Image Courtesy

This zoom sequence takes the viewer deep into the spectacular southern Milky Way in the constellation of Carina (The Keel).

We see two regions where stars are forming, the very rich cluster NGC 3603 and its surroundings and the strange glowing gas clouds known as NGC 3576.

The Milky Way has multiple spiral arms, long curved streams of gas and stars stretching out from the galactic centre.

These arms — two major star-filled arms, and two less populated minor arms — are each named after the constellations in which they are most prominent.

The Carina spiral feature is seen from Earth as a patch of sky heavily populated with stars, in the Carina-Sagittarius minor arm.