Astronomy Picture of the Day - A Treasure Chest in the Carina Nebula

NASA ^ | 17 Sep, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M. Reiter; Acknowledgement: M. H. Özsaraç Text: Ceci

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: This treasure chest is full of stars. The featured image was obtained with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and shows a dust pillar in the Carina Nebula inside our Galaxy, roughly 7500 light-years away. It is formed by interstellar gas and dust, and shaped by powerful stellar winds and radiation form neighboring stars like the nearby Eta Carinae stellar system which is more luminous than 5 million suns. The star formation inside the pillar is excavating its head, creating the open lid of the chest. Astronomers estimate that there are about 70 stars in a compact cluster inside the pillar. This cluster is now thought to be only around 1.3 million years old. Its bounty of young stars includes a massive star approximately 19 times as massive as the Sun. More massive stars are rarer, shine brighter and evolve faster than less massive stars. They are the shiniest jewels in the treasure chest.

[MtnClimber]

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[Red Badger]

Looks like a bassinette with a Dachshund beside it........

[No name given]

Wow.

[MtnClimber]

It looks like an Alpaca with a television strapped to it’s back. I can’t see well, but the television may be playing Rosie O’Donnel screaming something random about Trump.

[Resolute Conservative]

Imagine what the nebula clouds all over the sky hide behind them.

[telescope115]

I would love to see the Southern skies. The Southern Milky Way must be incredible, it’s just too far South, for me at 42° North.

[SkyDancer]

Beautiful stuff!!

[week 71]

Beautiful. Fitting name. Also, kind or reminds me of my recliner when watching some documentary in the evening hours.

[mitch5501]

It is indeed incredible. I live in an area with very little light pollution and when the sky is nice and dark ,no moon,clear etc then the view of the galaxy is like a giant curtain draped from horizon to horizon.

Laying outside for hours almost feels like falling into the sky.

[telescope115]

I envy you. It’s been years since I’ve seen the Milky Way. We used to go to a quarry in Southern Wisconsin that had very little light pollution, and it was glorious. We don’t do that anymore, the quarry became off limits, gas is expensive, and the people who can afford to go to Florida, Nebraska, Texas, or other really dark sky sites.

Even where I live it’s trees and light pollution.

If you don’t already have them, get a decent pair of binoculars, print out some free star charts off the internet and go exploring. You’ll be surprised at what you can see.🙂🔭

[mitch5501]

Already have a 4 and 1/2 inch reflector.
Panning across the milky way is always a treat.
I have an observatory dome and equatorial mount for a 10 inch and intend to upgrade in the next year or so.
Really looking forward to that.

[telescope115]

Awesome! I have a 4 1/2” Stellarvue refractor + 2 smaller ones. An observatory is not in the cards for me, but the club I belong to has an observatory, with a 10” refractor under the dome. We open it up once a month for the public, weather permitting.