APOD-NGC 3572 and tadpole-shaped clouds in the southern sky

NGC 3572 and Tadpole Clouds in the Southern Sky

Image courtesy and copyright: Carlos Taylor

Explanation: This cosmic image shows bright clouds and dark dust near the young star NGC 3572. NGC 3572 is a beautiful emission nebula and cluster, located near the Antarctic sky in the direction of carina. In this telescopic image, the NGC 3572 star near the upper edge spans about 100 light years, which is converted from the distance of about 9000 light years. These interstellar clouds and dust in the image are part of the molecular clouds that gave birth to this cluster. In this nebula, the elongated structure formed by the erosion of stellar wind and radiation obviously extends outward from the active young stars. Their shapes are reminiscent of tadpole-shaped clouds in IC 4 10, which are familiar to stargazers in the northern hemisphere, and stars may be born in them. In the next tens of millions to hundreds of millions of years, the gas and stars in the cluster will part ways later, disturbed by the gravitational tide and supernova explosion when the short-lived and massive members of the cluster die.