RCW 38

RCW 38, approx. 5,500 ly away from Earth in the constellation of Vela, is an HII region including the youngest (younger than one million years old) of the Milky Way’s 13 super star clusters, and is the densest stellar system within 13,000 ly of the Sun.

A super star cluster is a very massive, young star cluster that is thought to be the precursor of a globular cluster. These clusters are referred to as ‘super’ due to the fact that they are more luminous and contain more mass than other young star clusters.

The stars were very recently formed, and are still enshrouded within the dark cloud in which they were born. The star cluster is surrounded by clouds of brightly glowing gas and is composed of several short-lived massive stars, hundreds of young stars, and many protostars.

As this image was taken in optical wavelengths it appears emptier of stars due to dust and gas blocking the view.

RCW 38 includes Gum 22, Gum 23, and Gum 24.