#ngc604

March 9, 2024, NASA's Webb Telescope just dropped this INSANE image of a star-forming region called NGC 604, located a whopping 2.73 million light-years away in our neighboring Triangulum Galaxy (aka M33)!

Want to dive deeper? Check out the full article ➡️ https://www.jameswebbdiscovery.com/discoveries/james-webb-telescope-sheds-light-on-the-chaotic-cradle-of-stars-in-ngc-604

NGC 604

NGC 604 is an emission nebula located about 2.7 million light years away towards the constellation Triangulum. It lies outside the Milky Way, in M33, a nearby galaxy.

Star formation began in the region about 3 million years ago. The region is large enough that the young stars could form a globular cluster. The brightest stars ionize surrounding gas, creating one of the largest clouds of ionized hydrogen, while some more massive stars have already exploded into supernova.

NGC 604

NGC 604 is a star forming region located about 2.7 million light years away in galaxy M33, towards the Triangulum constellation. M33 is part of the Local Galaxy group, which includes the Milky Way and Andromeda. NGC 604 is 1300 light years across, 100 times the size of the Orion Nebula and large enough to form a globular cluster of stars, comparable in size to the Tarantula Nebula.

Over 200 stars have formed within NGC 604, most only 3 million years young. A number were massive enough to have already erupted into supernovae, while others of the more massive stars are 120 times the mass of our Sun and have surface temperatures reaching 72,000 degrees Fahrenheit. These stars, most forming an open cluster near the center of the region, blast out radiation and stellar winds, carving out the central hole and ionizing surrounding hydrogen, making the nebula one of the largest clouds of ionized hydrogen gas known.