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Westerlund 2 Detail

Edited Hubble Space Telescope image of a detail of the 25th anniversary image.

 

Original caption: Westerlund 2 is surrounded by the star-forming region Gum 29. The heaviest cluster stars are unleashing a torrent of ultraviolet radiation and hurricane-force winds streaming with charged particles, etching away the enveloping hydrogen gas cloud from where the cluster formed. The nebula reveals a fantasy landscape of pillars, ridges, valleys, and reddish-brown filaments of dense gas and dust. The brightest stars in the image are Milky Way foreground stars not associated with Westerlund 2.

 

Object Name: Westerlund 2

 

Image Type: Astronomical

 

Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team

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Uploaded on April 24, 2015