Skip to content

NGC3247 – Final Color

View image at full size, 2560 × 2040
NGC3247 - Chile

NGC3247 – Chile

This is a large, faint nebula in Carina, about 20,000 ly away.

Note the small open cluster on the far right with the yellowish stars in it. This is Westerlund 2. It contains over 30 type “O”stars that are normally blue/white in color. However, the Westerlund 2 cluster is quite young (1-2 million years old), and the group is still partially enshrouded in the extinction of the surrounding nebulosity. So they appear yellow/red.

PlaneWave 12.5” Astrograph with ZWO ASI6200 camera, Astrodon filters and ASA DDM-85 gearless mount. F/5 LRGB (69/3min L, 24/3min RGB). All subexposures binned 2×2.