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The Lupus 3 dark cloud and associated hot young stars

This evocative image shows a dark cloud where new stars are forming along with a cluster of brilliant stars that have already emerged from their dusty stellar nursery. This cloud is known as Lupus 3 and it lies about 600 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion). It is likely that the Sun formed in a similar star formation region more than four billion years ago. This picture was taken with the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile and is the best image ever taken of this little-known object.

Credit:

ESO/F. Comeron

About the Image

Id:eso1303a
Type:Observation
Release date:16 January 2013, 12:00
Related releases:eso1303
Size:8828 x 8607 px

About the Object

Name:Lupus 3
Type:• Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Dark
• Nebulae
Distance:600 light years

Coordinates

Position (RA):16h 9m 36.08s
Position (Dec):-39° 2' 59.24"
Field of view:35.03 x 34.15 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° left of vertical
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Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
B
451 nm MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
WFI
Optical
V
539 nm MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
WFI
Optical
Rc
651 nm MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
WFI
Optical
SII
MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
WFI

Images

Large JPEG
63.9 MB
Screensize JPEG
664.0 KB

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Wallpapers

1024x768
576.4 KB
1280x1024
967.5 KB
1600x1200
1.3 MB
1920x1200
1.5 MB
2048x1536
2.1 MB

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