Statue of Liberty, NGC 3576

The Statue of Liberty, NGC 3576  NGC 3576  is about 100 light-years across and 9,000 light-years away in the southern constellation of Carina, not far on the sky from the famous Eta Carina Nebula located 60 degrees below the equator in the sky. What’s happening in the Statue of Liberty nebula? Bright stars and interesting molecules are forming and being liberated. This image showcases dense knots of dark interstellar dust, bright stars that have formed in the past few million years, fields of glowing Hydrogen gas ionized by these stars, and great loops of gas expelled by dying stars. A detailed study of NGC 3576 uncovered at least 33 massive stars in the end stages of formation, and the clear presence of the complex carbon molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are thought to be created in the cooling gas of star forming regions, and their development in the Sun’s formation nebula five billion years ago may have been an important step in the development of life on Earth. The dramatic false color image  highlights the contributions of hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen, energized by intense ultraviolet radiation from the nearby stars, to the glow of the nebula. Green in the image come from Hydrogen gas, red come from Sulfur  and blue comes from Oxygen.  The image was taken in Rio Hurtado, Chile with a CDK17 with 60 images taken over a total of 30 hours and with an RH305 in Australia  with 51 images taken over 22 hours. The stars are RGB.