![[G45.45+0.06]](/image_gallery/images/d5/01g03ab.jpg)
A composite near-infrared image of the star formation region G45.45+0.06, taken using adaptive optics at the Gemini North telescope, and having a resolution of 0.12 arc seconds.
Downloadable versions (see
NOAO Conditions of Use):
This infrared image taken with the Gemini North telescope reveals, with
unprecedented clarity, a distant star forming region in our Milky Way galaxy.
The longer wavelengths of infrared light allow astronomers to observe these
new stars and explore the processes of star formation.
Most of the stars in this cluster are not seen at visible wavelengths.
They are still buried within the large cloud of dust and gas out of which
they formed, and the dust absorbs the visible light from the stars while
some of the redder or infrared light escapes. The reddest objects are likely
to be more deeply buried in the cloud and may still be in the process
of accumulating material from the cloud to form a star.
The cluster is designated as G45.45+0.06. The brightest star (at lower left)
is in the foreground and is not part of the cluster.
The diffuse infrared light seen in this image is both starlight reflected off
dust particles in the cloud and glowing hydrogen gas that is heated by the most
massive young stars in the cluster. The three bright stars near the lower
right hand corner of the image may be responsible for most of the hydrogen
heating and are about 10 times more massive than our sun and more than
100,000 times brighter. Image analysis, combined with follow-up spectroscopy,
will enable astronomers to determine such things as the ages of the stars
in the cluster, the principal heating sources, and what may cause
an interstellar cloud to collapse to form new stars.
This image was obtained with the Gemini North 8-meter telescope on Mauna Kea
using the University of Hawaii's infrared camera, QUIRC, with the adaptive
optics system called Hokupa'a. Adaptive optics systems use deformable mirrors
to correct for the effects of atmospheric distortions of starlight, resulting
in significantly sharper images. The United States National Science Foundation
has provided financial support to the University of Hawai'i Adaptive Optics
Program.
For further information about the Gemini Observatory, please visit
the Gemini WWW site.
Photo Credit: Gemini Observatory, US National Science Foundation, and
the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.
Minimum credit line: Gemini Observatory, US National Science Foundation, and the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.
(for details see Conditions of Use)
633 x 400 22 kb color JPEG
971 x 614 39 kb color JPEG
971 x 614 600 kb 8-bit color TIFF
971 x 614 1.7 Mb 24-bit color TIFF
This is a color composite infrared image made using adaptive optics on
the Gemini North telescope. Dust obscures this star forming region at optical
wavelengths, but it is visible at longer infrared wavelengths
(resolution = 0.12 arc seconds FWHM).
The composite was formed from three images taken in the H band (1.65
microns, blue), the K band (2.2 microns, green), and a narrow band
around Brackett gamma emission (2.17 microns, red).
An additional J-band (1.2 micron)
image, and the K-band image,
are available separately.
Other examples of the quality of Gemini North can be found in
this image of BD+303639,
and
this image of NGC6934.
Return to:
stars page,
Gemini stars page.
Comments by e-mail to images@noao.edu
