NGC 6357: Stellar Wonderland
From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
For reasons unknown, NGC
6357 is forming some of the most massive stars ever discovered.
This
complex wonderland of star formation consists of numerous filaments of
dust and gas surrounding huge cavities of massive star
clusters.
The intricate patterns
are caused by complex interactions between interstellar winds, radiation
pressures, magnetic fields, and gravity.
The featured image includes
not only visible light taken by the UKIRT
Telescope in Hawaii (blue) as part of the SuperCosmos Sky Surveys, but infrared
light from NASA's orbiting Spitzer Space
Telescope (orange) and X-ray light from NASA's orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory (pink).
NGC 6357 spans
about 100 light years and lies about 5,500 light years away toward the constellation of the Scorpion.
Within 10 million years,
the most massive stars currently seen in NGC 6357 will have exploded.
Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/L. Townsley et al; Optical: UKIRT; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech