*Description*: Thousands of sparkling young stars are nestled within the giant nebula NGC 3603. This stellar "jewel box" is one of the most massive young star clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. NGC 3603 is a prominent star-forming region in the Carina spiral arm of the Milky Way, about 20,000 light-years away. This latest image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows a young star cluster surrounded by a vast region of dust and gas. The image reveals stages in the life cycle of stars. Powerful ultraviolet radiation and fast winds from the bluest and hottest stars have blown a big bubble around the cluster. Moving into the surrounding nebula, this torrent of radiation sculpted the tall, dark stalks of dense gas, which are embedded in the walls of the nebula. These gaseous monoliths are a few light-years tall and point to the central cluster. The stalks may be incubators for new stars. On a smaller scale, a cluster of dark clouds called "Bok" globules resides at the top, right corner. These clouds are composed of dense dust and gas and are about 10 to 50 times more massive than the Sun. Resembling an insect's cocoon, a Bok globule may be undergoing a gravitational collapse on its way to forming new stars. The nebula was first discovered by Sir John Herschel in 1834. The image spans roughly 17 light-years and was taken Dec. 29, 2005 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys. For more information, please contact: Jes¯_¯_¯_s Ma¯_¯_¯_z Apell¯_¯_¯_niz Institute of Astrophysics of Andalucia, Spain 011-34-958-230-529 jmaiz@iaa.es Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, USA 410-338-4514 villard@stsci.edu Lars Lindberg Christensen Hubble/ESA, Garching, Germany 011-49-89-3200-6306 lars@eso.org Technical facts about this news release: About the Object Object Name: NGC 3603 Object Description: Giant star-forming nebula with masive young stellar clusters Position (J2000): R.A. 11h 15m 9s.10 Dec. -61° 16' 17".00 Constellation: Carina Distance: Approximately 20,000 light-years (6,100 parsecs) away. Dimensions: This image is roughly 3 arcminutes (17 light-years or 5 parsecs) wide. About the Data Data Description: The Hubble image was created from HST data from proposal 10602: J. Maíz Apellániz (Astronomical Institution of Andalucía, Spain), N. Walborn and E. Nelan (STScI), N. Morrell (Carnegie Institution of Washington), and V. Niemela (National University of La Plata, Argentina). Instrument: ACS/WFC Exposure Date(s): December 29, 2005 Exposure Time: 34 minutes Filters: F435W (B), F550M (V), and F850LP (SDSS z) About the Image Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration Release Date: October 2, 2007 Color: This image is a composite of many separate exposures made by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope using several different filters. Three filters were used to sample broad wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: F435W (B) blue F550M (V) green F850LP (SDSS z) red Orientation/Scale: Star Cluster Bursts into Life in New Hubble Image [ http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/2007/34/images/a/formats/compass_large_web.jpg ] What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. Thousands of sparkling young stars are nestled within the giant nebula NGC 3603. This stellar "jewel box" is one of the most massive young star clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. NGC 3603 is a prominent star-forming region in the Carina spiral arm of the Milky Way, about 20,000 light-years away. This latest image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows a young star cluster surrounded by a vast region of dust and gas. The image reveals stages in the life cycle of stars. *News Release Number:*: STScI-2007-34a
