a-neb22-37005← Collection
images
The Rosette Nebula and NGC 2244 cluster
- Reference
- a-neb22-37005
- Date
- 2006-09-18
In the hollowed-out centre of the Rosette nebula lies NGC 2244, the cluster of young stars recently formed there. The cluster has itself created the cavity, radiation pressure and stellar winds from the stars blowing the gas and dust away from the young cluster. The hottest (and brightest) members of the group are seen as distinctly blue on this photograph, a colour corresponding to a surface temperature around 20,000K which may be compared with the Sun's 5500K. The nebula and its cluster is at a distance of about 4500 light years and shows many streaks and globules of dust, remnants of the cloud from which the stars formed.