Flight to Star Cluster Westerlund 2

NASA Unveils Celestial Fireworks as Official Hubble 25th Anniversary Image

The brilliant tapestry of young stars flaring to life resemble a glittering fireworks display in the 25th anniversary NASA Hubble Space Telescope image to commemorate a quarter century of exploring the solar system and beyond since its launch on April 24, 1990. "Hubble has...

Details of Westerlund 2, Hubble's 25th Anniversary Image

A glittering tapestry of young stars flares to life in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope observation. These detailed close-ups are sections of a stunning image that is being released in celebration of Hubble's 25 years of exploring the universe since its launch on April 24, 1990....

Westerlund 2: Detail 1

The sparkling centerpiece of Hubble's silver anniversary tribute is Westerlund 2, a giant cluster of about 3,000 stars located 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina. Hubble's near-infrared imaging camera pierces through the dusty veil enshrouding the stellar...

Westerlund 2: Detail 2

Westerlund 2 is surrounded by the star-forming region Gum 29. The heaviest cluster stars are unleashing a torrent of ultraviolet radiation and hurricane-force winds streaming with charged particles, etching away the enveloping hydrogen gas cloud from where the cluster formed....

Westerlund 2: Detail 3

The pillars in the star-forming region surrounding Westerlund 2, composed of dense gas, are a few light-years tall and point to the central cluster. They are thought to be incubators for new stars. Besides sculpting the gaseous terrain, intense radiation from the most brilliant...

Westerlund 2: Detail 4

The red dots scattered throughout the landscape around Westerlund 2 are a rich population of newly forming stars still wrapped in their gas-and-dust cocoons. These tiny, faint stars are between 1 million and 2 million years old and have not yet ignited the hydrogen in their...

Compass and Scale Image of Westerlund 2

Flight to Star Cluster Westerlund 2 (Slower Flight)

This visualization is a half-speed, and thus twice as long, version of the flight to the star cluster. It provides a three-dimensional perspective on Hubble's 25th anniversary image of the nebula Gum 29 with the star cluster Westerlund 2 at its core. The flight traverses the...

Zoom to Nebula Gum 29 and Star Cluster Westerlund 2

This animation begins with a backyard view of the southern night sky near the constellations of Carina and Vela. After outlining the constellations, the sequence zooms in past the well-known Carina Nebula to the neighboring nebula Gum 29. During the zoom, the images dissolve...

Zoom to Nebula Gum 29 and Flight to Star Cluster Westerlund 2

This visualization provides both two- and three-dimensional perspectives on Hubble's 25th anniversary image of the nebula Gum 29 with the star cluster Westerlund 2 at its core. The animation begins with a backyard view of the southern night sky near the constellations of Carina...