RCW 75

(move the mouse over thumbnails - please be patient until image downloads)

RCW 75 (also known as Gum 48a) is an emission nebula (a large H II region) in the constellation Centaurus. It is located in the southern part of the constellation,midway between the bright stars Hadar and Acrux. The distance to RCW 75 is estimated to be not less than 2,000 parsecs (6,520 light years); This complex appears physically associated with the open cluster Stock 16. The nebulosity would also associated with the reflection nebula vdBH 60, whose four components, indicated with the letters a through d, seem associated with different clusters of infrared radiation sources at distances between 2100 and 2400 parsecs. In the vicinity of the nebula is also the vast nebulous complex Ced 122, visible just to the south, which stretches for some degrees.

Image details