NGC6357 Nebula in Scorpius

NGC 6357 is an extended emission nebula in in the constellation Scorpius. The nebula contains many proto-stars shielded by dark disks of gas, and young stars wrapped in expanding "cocoons". Within NGC 6357 some of the most massive stars ever discovered are forming. NGC 6357 houses the open star cluster Pismis 24 (below the center of the image), home to tremendously bright and blue stars. The distance to this nebula is approx. 5500 light years.

Image data:
Ha-O3-S2-LRGB (Ha 8x40m, O3 8x40m, S2 13x40m, L 11x20m, R 7x20m, G 7x20m, B 7x20m) total 26,3 h combined, north is down
80cm f/7 Astrooptik Keller corrected cassegrain, FLI Proline 16803, Baader Filters, Prompt 7 CTIO Chile,
Processing: Johannes Schedler   APOD on Feb 05, 2016

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Last modified on Friday, 25 March 2016 09:19

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