Star cluster RCW 38

Eso_eso0929b_1024

eso_eso0929b August 19th, 2009

Credit: ESO

The dense star cluster RCW 38 glistens about 5,500 light years away in the direction of the constellation Vela (the Sails). RCW 38 is an "embedded" cluster, in that the nascent cloud of dust and gas still envelops its stars. There, young, titanic stars bombard fledgling suns and planets with powerful winds and large amount of light, helped in their devastating task by short-lived, massive stars that explode as supernovae. In some cases, this energetic onslaught cooks away the matter that may eventually form new planetary systems. Scientists think that our own Solar System emerged from such a dramatic environment. This image was obtained with the Wide Field Imager instrument on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at La Silla, using data collected through four filters (B, V, R and H-alpha). The field of view is about 10 arcminutes.

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0929b/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
RCW 38
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Grouping > Cluster
Eso_eso0929b_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 8h 59m 7.9s
DEC = -47° 31’ 45.8”
Orientation
North is 1.6° CW
Field of View
11.7 x 11.7 arcminutes
Constellation
Vela

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red MPG-2.2m (WFI) Optical (R) -
Orange MPG-2.2m (WFI) Optical (H-alpha) -
Green MPG-2.2m (WFI) Optical (Pseudogreen (B+R)) -
Blue MPG-2.2m (WFI) Optical (B) -
Eso_eso0929b_1280
×
ID
eso0929b
Subject Category
B.3.6.4  
Subject Name
RCW 38
Credits
ESO
Release Date
2009-08-19T00:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0929b/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
Instrument
WFI, WFI, WFI, WFI
Color Assignment
Red, Orange, Green, Blue
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
R, H-alpha, Pseudogreen (B+R), B
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
134.78299193, -47.5293839654
Reference Dimension
1280.0, 1279.0
Reference Pixel
603.0, 609.0
Scale
-0.000152093296855, 0.000152093296855
Rotation
-1.56822837027
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
http://www.eso.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
eso0929b
Metadata Date
2009-08-12T15:19:09+02:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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