NGC 3603 – NGC 3576

Constellation: Carina

NGC 3603 (left) is a nebula (and H II region) in the constellation of Carina. It is about 20’000 Ly away. The central star cluster of NGC 3603 is the densest concentration of very massive stars known in the galaxy. Three prominent Wolf–Rayet stars have been detected within the cluster. The brightest of the three, HD 97950A1 (a.k.a. NGC 3603-A1) is actually a pair of Wolf–Rayet stars that orbit around each other once every 3.77 days. The primary is an estimated mass of 120 times that of the Sun, while its companion is 92 more massive than the Sun. The star designated HD 97950B is a single star more massive and more luminous than either of the individual members of HD 97950A1. It is 2’880’000 times as luminous as the sun and 132 times as massive than the Sun.

NGC 3576 (right), a.k.a the Statue of Liberty nebula, is a bright emission nebula and star-forming region (also in the constellation of Carina). Its distance is estimated to range from 7’800 to 9’800 Ly. It is approximately 100 Ly across. Link to interactive sky chart. See also.

Telescope & Mount:

PlaneWave CDK17 (F6.8) on a Software Bisque Paramount ME mount.

Imaging:

Camera: Player One Zeus-Mono (bin 2×2)

Data:
Ha: 49x600s
O3: 59x600s
S2: 60x600s

Stars:
Red: 99x60s
Green: 100x60s
Blue: 100x60s

Total integration time: 32h 59′