NGC 3576 is the nebula with the arcs in the center. It is about 100 light-years across and 9,000 light-years away in the southern constellation of Carina.
Left of NGC 3576 is NGC 3603, a much larger but more distant star forming region.
NGC 3576 drifts through the Sagittarius arm of our spiral Milky Way Galaxy. Within the region, episodes of star formation are thought to contribute to the complex and suggestive shapes.
Powerful winds from the nebula's embedded, young, massive stars shape the looping filaments.
The glow silhouettes dense clouds of dust and gas such as the two condensing dark clouds near the top of the arcs offer potential sites for the formation of new stars (NASA)
Imaged with the 16" f3.75 Dream Astrograph.
Apogee Alta U-16M camera.
R-HA-O3 (mapped as RGB)
Ha - 40 min ,O3 - 30 min
RGB 10 minutes each
(Total of 1:40 HRS)
Imaged from Tivoli farm in Namibia June 2012.