Page 74 - Astronomy - October 2017 USA

BREAK

THROUGH

A colorful
crustacean

The Lobster Nebula
(NGC 6357) harbors at
least three clusters of hot
young stars. In visible-light
photos, these clusters
often hide inside the
dense clouds of gas and
dust that gave birth to
them. Yet X-rays from the
massive suns penetrate
the shrouds and reveal
these luminaries. In this
composite image, X-rays
appear purple, infrared
radiation glows orange,
and visible light shows
blue. The purple clouds
highlight the youthful
clusters and their embed-
ded stars, whose stellar
winds and radiation are
carving cavities into their
surroundings. The Lobster
Nebula lies some 8,000
light-years from Earth in
the constellation Scorpius.
X-RAY: NASA/CXC/PSU/L. TOWNSLEY ET AL.;
VISIBLE: UKIRT; INFRARED: NASA/JPL-CALTECH

74 ASTRONOMY • OCTOBER 2017