NGC 3324 is an

open cluster An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, an ...

in the southern constellation

Carina Carina may refer to: Places Australia * Carina, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane * Carina Heights, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane * Carina, Victoria, a locality in Mildura Serbia * Carina, Osečina, a village in the Kolubara District ...

, located northwest of the Carina Nebula at a distance of from Earth. It is closely associated with the

emission nebula An emission nebula is a nebula formed of ionized gases that emit light of various wavelengths. The most common source of ionization is high-energy ultraviolet photons emitted from a nearby hot star. Among the several different types of emissio ...

, also known as . The two are often confused as a single object, and together have been nicknamed the "Gabriela Mistral Nebula" due to its resemblance to the Chilean poet. was first catalogued by

James Dunlop James Dunlop FRSE (31 October 1793 – 22 September 1848) was a Scottish astronomer, noted for his work in Australia. He was employed by Sir Thomas Brisbane to work as astronomer's assistant at his private observatory, once located at Paramat ...

in 1826. The

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most vers ...

observed a western section of NGC 3324 in detail, and the same section was one of the first observations of the James Webb Space Telescope, for comparison.

Nearby clusters

NGC 3324 is associated with the open cluster

NGC 3293 NGC 3293 is an open cluster in the Carina constellation. It was discovered by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille Abbé Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille (; 15 March 171321 March 1762), formerly sometimes spelled de la Caille, was a French astronomer and ge ...

. Both are fairly young, at around 12 million years old. They show some degree of mass segregation, with more massive stars concentrated near their centers. Neither are dynamically relaxed.

Gallery

File:Carina Nebula by Harel Boren (151851961).jpg, The Carina Nebula with NGC 3324 at top right File:NGC 3324 Hubble.jpg,

detail of a western section of NGC 3324 (north is to the right) File:NASA’s Webb Reveals Cosmic Cliffs, Glittering Landscape of Star Birth.jpg, James Webb Space Telescope detail of the same western section

References

External links

* * {{star-cluster-stub Carina (constellation) 3324 IC objects Open clusters 18260501 Articles containing video clips