Statue of Liberty Nebula

This star forming complex is located near the galactic plane along the Carina arm of the Milky Way galaxy. It is approximately 100 light years across and is located near the Eta Carinae nebula, forming the western section of RCW 57. NGC 3576 consists of a giant, star-forming molecular cloud with a luminous H II region positioned just outside. In the infrared, this is one of the brightest H II regions in the galaxy.