Cosmic Cliffs In Carina Nebula

by Artur Bogacki

Title

Cosmic Cliffs In Carina Nebula

Artist

Artur Bogacki

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Photograph - Photograph

Description

The “Cosmic Cliffs” in the Carina Nebula on the edge of a gigantic, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, roughly 7,600 light-years away. The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the center of the bubble, above the area shown in this image. The high-energy radiation from these stars is sculpting the nebula’s wall by slowly eroding it away.

The “steam” that appears to rise from the celestial “mountains” is actually hot, ionized gas and hot dust streaming away from the nebula due to intense, ultraviolet radiation. Dramatic pillars rise above the glowing wall of gas, resisting the blistering ultraviolet radiation from the young stars. Bubbles and cavities are being blown by the intense radiation and stellar winds of newborn stars. Protostellar jets and outflows, which appear in gold, shoot from dust-enshrouded, nascent stars. A “blow-out” erupts at the top-center of the ridge, spewing gas and dust into the interstellar medium. An unusual “arch” appears, looking like a bent-over cylinder.

This period of very early star formation is difficult to capture because, for an individual star, it lasts only about 50,000 to 100,000 years – but Webb’s extreme sensitivity and exquisite spatial resolution have chronicled this rare event.

NGC 3324 was first catalogued by James Dunlop in 1826. Visible from the Southern Hemisphere, it is located at the northwest corner of the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), which resides in the constellation Carina. The Carina Nebula is home to the Keyhole Nebula and the active, unstable supergiant star called Eta Carinae.

Image and text credit: NASA ESA CSA STScI, James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam image.

This striking image was carefully edited and enhanced by me including clarity, contrast, saturation, vibrance and dynamic range for the best quality for fine art prints.

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November 5th, 2024

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