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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

Posted on 09/17/2026 12:15:22 PM PDT by 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.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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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.

1 posted on 09/17/2026 12:15:22 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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2 posted on 09/17/2026 12:16:07 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 31R1O; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

3 posted on 09/17/2026 12:16:58 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

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


4 posted on 09/17/2026 12:19:24 PM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: MtnClimber

Wow.


5 posted on 09/17/2026 12:19:26 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: Red Badger

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.


6 posted on 09/17/2026 12:24:13 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

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


7 posted on 09/17/2026 12:30:03 PM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: MtnClimber

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.


8 posted on 09/17/2026 3:53:22 PM PDT by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum…)
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To: MtnClimber

Beautiful stuff!!


9 posted on 09/17/2026 6:50:03 PM PDT by SkyDancer ( ~ Am Yisrael Chai ~)
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