APOD: 2026 September 17 – A Treasure Chest in the Carina Nebula

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APOD: 2026 September 17 – A…

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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

A Treasure Chest in the Carina Nebula

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 from 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.
APOD’s main NASA site is moving : From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apodTomorrow’s picture: The Triangulum Galaxy

Date

September 17, 2026

Credit

ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M. Reiter; Acknowledgement: M. H. Özsaraç

Authors & editors:

Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Keighley Rockcliffe

A service of:

ASD at NASA / GSFC,NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.

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