NGC 3372 Widefield

High-Res

Object: NGC 3372 Widefield

Shown here is a wide field, 12-pane mosaic image of the Eta Carina Nebula taken over four nights from the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The nebula ranks as one of the largest in the Milky Way, spanning nearly 300 light years across. Although it lies about 7500 light-years from Earth, it is nevertheless a naked eye object to southern sky gazers. Within this huge expanse lies its most famous resident, the super-massive star Eta Carina, sculpting its surroundings into the tortuous shape seen in the above image. Eta Carina is the brightest star in the image and is located at about a 10 o’clock position from the center of the frame. Numerous open star clusters dot the landscape of this beautiful nebula, a testament to its place as a prolific stellar nursery.

A particularly interesting nebula can be found in the lower right corner of the image, it being NGC 3324, also known as the Gabriela Mistral Nebula. Named for a Nobel poet laureate of Chile, if viewed from the right orientation it presents itself as the silhouette of the poets face.