Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevec35
You are certainly a mine of information Robert.
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Yeah, I can be a bit of a "know it all", but I do try not to rub it in, and hopefully my comments are relevant....
I have got very interested in this issue of why it is that NGC6231, which is at a (rather uncertain) distance of some 5000-6500 light years, and which is so remarkably luminous that it is a
bright object in amateur telescopes
despite its considerable distance, seems to be
just about the only such "young & luminous, very OB-star rich" cluster in the Milky Way between Scorpius and Circinus. Of course, there must once have been a massive "Eta Carinae -like" nebula surrounding the cluster, which was energized by the stars of the cluster, but it would have been quickly dissipated by the energy output from the cluster stars.
The dark clouds that make up the "Emu" in this part of the Milky Way are giant clouds of molecular gas, with some dust admixed......so I do wonder if these dusty clouds are hiding any objects like NGC 6231?
I think I better move any further discussion of this object to the science forum!!