A new image reveals the gorgeous backdrop of space swirling with a cloud of gas and dust called RCW 106. The new picture reveals a bit more about this region, which is located about 12,000 light-years away.
RCW 106 is the red cloud above center in this new image. Much of the huge H II region is hidden by dust and is more extensive than the visible part. The H II region is located in the southern Milky Way and regions like this, like RCW 106, are clouds of hydrogen gas that are being ionized by intense starlight.
Many other unrelated objects are also visible in this wide-field image, released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). For example, the filaments to the right of the image are the remnants of an ancient supernova, and the glowing red filaments at the lower left surround an unusual and very hot star. Patches of dark obscuring dust are also visible across the entire cosmic landscape.
Astronomers have been studying RCW 106 for some time. However, it's not the crimson clouds that draw their attention - it's the mysterious origin of the massive and powerful stars buried within the clouds. Although they're very bright, the stars cannot be seen in visible-light images, such as this one, since the surrounding dust and gas is too thick.
For less massive stars like the sun, the process that brings them into existence is well understood. As clouds of gas are pulled together under gravity, density and temperature increase and nuclear fusion begins. For stars buried in regions such as RCW 106, though, this explanation isn't adequate. Known as O-type stars, these stars have huge masses, and it's uncertain how they manage to gather and keep together enough gas to form.
O-type stars likely form in the densest part of nebular clouds, like RCW 106, and that's why they're so difficult to study. Even if you ignored the fact that these stars are obscured by dust, there's also the fact that O-type stars have a very brief life span.
With that said, this new image is giving researchers a closer look at this region. It may be possible, in the future, to also get a better glimpse of O-type stars in order to learn a bit more about their life span.
