The Stars behind the Curtain - ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) captures magnificent image of giant stellar nursery

ESO has released a magnificent VLT image of the giant stellar nursery surrounding NGC 3603, in which stars are continuously being born. Embedded in this scenic nebula is one of the most luminous and most compact clusters of young, massive stars in our Milky Way, which therefore serves as an excellent “local” analogue of very active star-forming regions in other galaxies. The cluster also hosts the most massive star to be “weighed” so far.

 

Page last updated: 03 February 2010 by Julia Short