Panorama of the Carina Nebula

On of the most panoramic views ever, this Hubble image shows the tumultuous central region of the Carina Nebula where star birth – and death – is taking place.

The Carina Nebula is situated an estimated 7 500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina, that lies at the keel of the ship Argo Navis. This fifty light-year-wide view gives us a peek into star formation as it commonly occurs along the dense spiral arms of a galaxy.

It is a mosaic of 48 frames taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Hubble images were taken at the wavelength of ionised hydrogen to which colour information obtained by the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile was added. Red corresponds to sulphur, green to hydrogen, and blue to oxygen emission.