South-East Carina Ha OIII SII 31 hours

[Placidus]

A famous and exquisite region in SE Carina. A grand total of 31 hours of exposure. A family show, with something for everyone.

Big one [2.5MB] here (www.mikeberthonjones.smugmug.com/Category/Star-Forming-Regions/i-KNZ9RNr/0/O/Brunhilde%20and%20the%20Hereford.jp g)

Many see the Statue of Liberty in the right-hand half of the image. We see a very well-fed opera singer (it ain't over even if she sings), aboard a covered wagon (roofed with multiple sets of grand arching canvas hoops in rainbow colours), drawn not by a water buffalo but by a dancing Hereford cow, complete with classical curly forehead. On Brunhilda's shoulder is a big black howling hound-dawg. NGC 3581 comprises the Hereford's nose.

The great hoops of the wagon-roof are presumably shock fronts from multiple powerful supernova explosions, although there is no obvious parental open cluster unambiguously responsible.

The cow is very happy. It is dancing, standing on its right hind hoof, which is outlined by a set of several small arcing shocks. NGC 3576 forms the extended, risque can-can left hoof, and 3586 forms the cow's right fore-leg.

There are many other small to medium generally arcuate shock fronts in the area, suggesting much ongoing violent activity.

There is also a goodly supply of Bok globules to be found in this area, and right at the very top are some lovely meandering, branching dust lanes.

The left hand half of the image is powered by very obvious open cluster NGC 3603, making the immediate surrounds bright blue with OIII emission.

We put several nights into collecting enough [OIII] and [SII] to show the related shock fronts without too much grittiness.

Field of view approx 35 min arc. Red: [SII] 15 hrs, Green: H-alpha 4hrs, Blue: [OIII] 12 hrs. Aspen CG16M at -25C on 20" PlaneWave. All processing using our own GoodLook 64.

Please have fun hunting around to find the many more small furry animals and other interesting features.

Best,
M n T

[Atmos]

What a lovely image MnT, got lost in there for a while just hunting around all of the detail in the shock fronts and the like.

Sadly, I don't see much in this image, no animals, no wagon, just shock fronts, bok globules and dusty environments.... Oh and a giant dark hand grasping a glowing luminescent electric object giving of pulses of magical energy :P

[Placidus]

Thanks, Colin!



Confession: Only Trish can really see Brunhilde clearly. But I can see the other bits, now including the magical energy!

M

[RickS]

A fine image, Mike & Trish, full of fascinating details. An impressive feat of imagination also :thumbsup:

[RobF]

Fantastic pic. Leaves me wanting to scroll outside the borders and keep exploring further at this wonderful resolution :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

Cheers, Rick!



Thanks, Rob. That's the trouble with such a long focal length. One only gets a chapter, not the whole book.

[Stevec35]

A nice shot of this region M&T. I would do something to tone the magenta stars down a bit but that's all personal preference I guess.

Cheers

Steve

[Placidus]

Thanks Steve. You should have seen the magenta stars before :D. But there's room for more work. Will look at it.

[Atmos]

Attack them with some RGB stars ;)

[suma126]

Great image love the star with the fuzz ring around it to right of the image....:thumbsup:

[astronobob]

Extraordinary Stuff :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Lovely image M&T! :thumbsup::thumbsup: I would personally add a bit more saturation & vibrance but the colours are pleasing, as is, and the depth is great! Imagination quotient is running very high today as well!! :)

By the way, can't you see the running gnome (with pointy hat and shoes)? He's running so fast he's leaving a cloud of dust behind him! :)

[Peter Ward]

A tidy effort, but I too would tinker with the palette.

As for embedded shapes.... I still see that fish swing toward me. :D

[Andy01]

Nice work guys, lotsa glorious detail as always :)
Hopefully I'll have a clear night this week to finish gathering the O3 on mine. You've inspired me to get LOTS more data with this pic of yours.
Well done :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Some lovely features across the frame and I actually don't mind this colour palette guys :)...see? you are slowly but surely exposing all the sheep eyes to the reality of the physics :prey2: :prey: :innocent: :lol:

Now as for all the shapes and characters within the nebulosity...wow, there are so many, it's like watching clouds, I see some of your illusions and plenty more, great stuff :thumbsup:

Mike

[Placidus]

Thanks, Shane. Glad you saw the little doughnut round the star. There's another far less well formed one toward top left.



Cheers, Bob!



Hi, Marcus. Thanks muchly for the encouragement. We can see a very large black Wizard of Id, with black wizard's hat, black cloak, and white wizard's beard, toward bottom left.



Hi, Peter. I suspect that trying to show both the brightest details and the very faint stuff (esp dust lanes at the top) has reduced the punchiness. We'll have a play while trying to do something about the magenta stars.



Thanks, Andy, that's really kind. This area does seem to benefit from really hammering the OIII and SII. The H-alpha is very strong and doesn't need much help.



Hi, Mike! Thanks for the much needed encouragement regarding the palette. And 'tis a great spot for searching for gnomes and aliens and so forth. I think gnome spotting and story telling is a legitimate art because it helps one to remember the structures for next time. :)

[alpal]

Hi Mike & Trish,
such a beautiful picture - as I've always said -
it's perhaps the most photogenic target in the sky.
Well done.

cheers
Allan

[Geoff45]

Beautiful picture as well as informative scientifically. It took me a while to see the Hereford, but it's very obvious and convincing once seen.
Geoff

[Placidus]

Thanks, Allan. It is certainly a very dynamic and interesting area.



Cheers, Geoff! Delighted that you found the cow.

- - -

It's interesting that the right hand half of the picture scored so many separate NGC numbers, whereas to us it looks like one big interconnected star-forming region. The left half looks younger.

Best,
Mike n Trish

[multiweb]

You've been busy Mike. Great close up! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[croweater]

Great photo Mike and Trish. I see a rodeo rider on a bull (instead of fat opera singer) :) Cheers, Richard

[Placidus]

Thanks muchly Marc.



Ta, Richard. Yes, the bovines are busy either way. (Here, at the farm, it is raining torrentially - excellent - and there are seven cows and two newborn calves within 10 metres of the windowsill).

Best,
Mike

[Slawomir]

Awesome image M&T :thumbsup:

Now I really want to have a go at this area myself!...have 2 weeks of holidays, maybe we will get a few clear nights...:prey:

[madbadgalaxyman]

Mike and Trish,

Your image shows good resolution of the massive & compact Young cluster NGC 3603, which is one of the most extreme Young star clusters known in our own Galaxy , at some 10,000 solar masses.

196747

These sorts of Massive Compact Young clusters may have a similar central concentration and density-falloff to standard 'old' globular clusters.
They are often more like young globulars in appearance than open star clusters.

Me and Dana discussed NGC 3603 and other similar young "globular-like clusters" in this science forum thread:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=105102&highlight=3603

Another extreme young star cluster is Trumpler 14:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=106304&highlight=3603

cheers,
Robert

[Ryderscope]

Thanks for yet another great image MnT. The covered wagon with our voluptuous opera singer is certainly present. Great technical details as well.

[Placidus]

Thanks, Suavi, that's encouraging. Good luck with the weather up there.




Hi, Robert,

I read your link but sadly it was over my head. I've read say Bally and Reipurth, "The birth of stars and planets", and more recently Jones, Lambourne, and Serjeant, "An introduction to Galaxies and Cosmology", where the dynamics of this area got a special mention. Other vaguely relevant books I've read include Kaler's "Extreme Stars", Philips et al "The Physics of Stars, Green Jones et al, "An Intro to the Sun and Stars", and half a dozen similar books, so I know what the words mean one at a time, but you're well ahead of me in synthesising it, or putting it all together.

Are you saying that this cluster is extreme because it has so much total mass?

Is it also extreme because there is a lot of stellar wind and SNR activity? I don't see much evidence for that in the image but perhaps that is because the cluster is very young. Can you talk about that aspect?

You mentioned how it has a density distribution similar to old globulars, but then you go on to say it could be a young globular. Would love to know more. Do you think that this particular cluster could be a captured nucleus or part thereof from a dwarf galaxy?

Best,
Mike



Cheers, Rodney, that's kind.

Very best,
Mike and Trish

[Decimus]

Stunning and fascinating, Mike and Trish. Another example of a 'can't-take-my-eyes-of-it' image with spectacular detail. Wow! :eyepop:

Cheers,
Richard

[Placidus]

Thanks, Richard, that's very heartening.

[Ross G]

Hi Mike,

An amazing photo.

Great detail. So sharp.

I love the composition.

Ross.

[Pharian]

Wow.

I want a spaceship.

[Placidus]

Thanks muchly Ross.
Nice to hear from Cherrybrook, too.



Thanks, Christopher. :)

A spaceship could be very useful. I've taken the phasers and photon torpedoes off mine, and put them on the Subaru, to deal with tailgaters.

[Shiraz]

that is a cracking good image. I like the palette and the emphasis on the left hand new cluster region is interesting as well - so many new stars bursting into life from the molecular cloud is breathtaking.

[Placidus]

Thanks Ray, that's encouraging. Hadn't really thought about just how many stars there are in that cluster. Thanks for pointing that out.

Best,
Mike

[dylan_odonnell]

I love this a lot, there is so much variation and detail in all the various parts of the amazingly big target.

[Placidus]

Thanks muchly, Dylan. We agree that it's a very narratogenic target - it wants to tell a story, and does much of the work for you.