GUM 37, CDK24

GUM 37, features glowing gas and dark dust clouds along side the young stars of the open cluster at the very upper middle,NGC 3572.This region is often overlooked by astroimagers in favor of its brighter neighbor, the nearby Carina Nebula. Stars from NGC 3572  would measure about 100 light-years across at the cluster’s estimated distant of 9,000 light-years. The visible interstellar gas and dust is part of the star cluster’s natal molecular cloud. Dense streamers of material within the nebula, eroded by stellar winds and radiation, clearly trail away from the energetic young stars. They are likely sites of ongoing star formation with shapes reminiscent of the cosmic tadpoles of IC 410 better known to northern skygazers.These tadpoles are the small features in the upper center of the image. The most dominant feature in the image is what looks like a cross between a dragon’s head and a unicorn in the upper center left. In the coming tens to hundreds of millions of years, gas and stars in the cluster will be dispersed though, by gravitational tides and by violent supernova explosions that end the short lives of the massive cluster stars. This image was taken in Rio Hurtado Chile using Martin Pugh’s 24″ Planewave CDK24 and is done in false color in the Hubble palette. Red in the image is emission from Sulfur gas, green from Hydrogen, and blue from Oxygen. The stars are true color.