Stellar titans of Pismis 24

Home to some of the largest stars ever discovered, the open stellar cluster Pismis 24 blazes from the core of NGC 6357, a nebula in the constellation of Scorpius (the Scorpion). Several stars in the clusters weigh in at over 100 times the mass of the Sun, making them real monster stars. The strange shapes taken by the clouds are a result of the huge amount of blazing radiation emitted by these massive, hot stars. The gas and dust of the nebula hide huge baby stars in the nebula from telescopes observing in visible light, as well as adding to the hazy appearance of the image.

This image combines observations performed through three different filters in visible light (B, V, R) with the 1.5-metre Danish telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Crédit:

ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/ R. Gendler, U.G. Jørgensen, J. Skottfelt, K. Harpsøe

À propos de l'image

Identification:potw1015a
Type:Observation
Date de publication:12 avril 2010 10:00
Taille:2066 x 2042 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:Pismis 24
Type:Milky Way : Nebula
Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Open
Distance:8000 années lumière
Constellation:Scorpius
Catégorie:Nebulae
Star Clusters

Formats des images

Grand JPEG
1,7 Mio
JPEG taille écran
356,3 Kio

Zoomable


Fonds d'écran

1024x768
347,5 Kio
1280x1024
550,4 Kio
1600x1200
797,6 Kio
1920x1200
977,3 Kio
2048x1536
1,3 Mio

Coordinates

Position (RA):17 25 24.07
Position (Dec):-34° 25' 47.79"
Field of view:13.59 x 13.43 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 135.1° left of vertical

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineLongueur d'ondeTélescope
Visible
B
433 nmDanish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC
Visible
V
544 nmDanish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC
Visible
R
648 nmDanish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC