NGC 6357's Cathedral to Massive Stars

Deep in the Milky Way in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion) lies NGC 6357, a region of space where new stars are being born in of chaotic clouds of gas and dust. The outer parts of this vast nebula were imaged by ESO’s Very Large Telescope, producing the best picture of this region taken so far...

The following photography (Hi-res can be dowloaded here) is a Hubble view of the star cluster Pismis 24. This lies at the core of nebula NGC 6357 where blazing stars heat the surrounding gas, creating a bubble.

How massive can a normal star be? Estimates made from distance, brightness and standard solar models had given one star in the open cluster Pismis 24 over 200 times the mass of our Sun, nearly making it the record holder.

This star is the brightest object located just above the gas front in the above image. Close inspection of images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, however, have shown that Pismis 24-1 derives its brilliant luminosity not from a single star but from three at least. Component stars would still remain near 100 solar masses, making them among the more massive stars currently on record.

Toward the bottom of the image, stars are still forming in the associated emission nebula NGC 6357. Appearing perhaps like a Gothic cathedral, energetic stars near the center appear to be breaking out and illuminating a spectacular cocoon.

Source and original photo: APOD

thanks for this. with all the other mindless threads on here this is awsome!

Wow!

Sooooo pretty...

*sigh*

The awe-inspiring cosmos can be my religion any day.
Yesiree.

This may sound like a silly question but I really would like to know.

Is that picture what we are actually seeing or an artists rendition?

Originally posted by Cisl2010
This may sound like a silly question but I really would like to know.

Is that picture what we are actually seeing or an artists rendition?

Ya no kidding...but it is the real deal. Looks like from Hubble.

reply to post by elevenaugust


amazing

reply to post by Cisl2010



It's a combination of visible light, x ray, infra red and others, all combined in to one picture. It's not what you would see looking through a telescope.

That's truly a beautiful picture.

Thanks for sharing.

The earth is blue and there is nothing we can do


Truly awe inspiring

SS

reply to post by elevenaugust


hi elevenaugust

simply beautiful. all the pictures i ever see of nebula, galaxies, etc, are always composite images of x-ray, infrared, & ultra violet together. i wonder what all these things look like with just visible light. i wonder how this would look with our own eyes!

simply beautiful. all the pictures i ever see of nebula, galaxies, etc, are always composite images of x-ray, infrared, & ultra violet together. i wonder what all these things look like with just visible light. i wonder how this would look with our own eyes!

its probly eathier the most horrifying or mundane thing to look at with just human preception

Originally posted by GezinhoKiko
reply to post by elevenaugust

 

hi elevenaugust

Oh! and 11 Aug is not my birthday (mine is 19 Aug) but a very special date for me: an unforgettable day during the total Eclipse of the Sun that ocurred back in 1999, in Normandy, France.

I was there in the totality band.

i hope to one day before i leave this carcass get to gaze upon an eclipse!
ive heard from a friend he felt an undescribable emotion during the totality, he said he feels its left an imprint upon him, during times of stress or problems he just closes his eyes and gazes at the imprint and it perks his spirit right up! sounds crazy to some but to me it makes sense
im guessing you felt something similar
choosing it as a username and it being an unforgettable day for you


thanks for clearing that up about the telescope

All the ingredients for civilisations to come before our very eyes, magnificent

Which one is this according to Messier's Catalogue? Looks beatiful

reply to post by Imtor


i cant find it catalogued
this list dosnt include it

Wiki Messier Objects

its mentioned here, 2nd one on the list
but no Messier number

Hubble Site

ETA - more info NGC 6357

Can you imagine what the world would look like if we could see all of the spectrum's with our eyes???

You could literally see the entire internet and cell-calls and who knows what else.

Makes me wonder why there isn't any like x-ray infrared whatever photography of earth down here out there.

We can only really see a very small part of reality. My imagination running wild. Thanks for this.