 Young stars in RCW 36 are revealed in the X-ray (blue), while infrared images (red and green) show both stars and gas. | |
| Object type | H II region |
|---|---|
| Other designations | RCW 36, Gum 20, BBW 217[1][2] |
| Constellation | Vela  |
| 08h 59m 00.9s | |
| Declination | −43° 44′ 10″ |
| Distance | 2300 ly[3] / 700 pc |
In visual light (V) | |
| 15.2 | |
Size | 5 arcmin |
| Estimated age | 1.1±0.6 Myr[4] |
 Related media on Wikimedia Commons | |
RCW 36 (also designated Gum 20)[5] is an emission nebula containing an open cluster in the constellation Vela. This H II region is part of a larger-scale star-forming complex known as the Vela Molecular Ridge (VMR), a collection of molecular clouds in the Milky Way that contain multiple sites of ongoing star-formation activity.[1] The VMR is made up of several distinct clouds, and RCW 36 is embedded in the VMR Cloud C.
RCW 36 is one of the sites of massive-star formation closest to the Solar System,[6] whose distance of approximately 700 parsecs (2300 light-years). The most massive stars in the star cluster are two stars with late-O or early-B spectral types, but the cluster also contains hundreds of lower-mass stars.[4] This region is also home to objects with Herbig–Haro jets, HH 1042 and HH 1043.[7]
- ^ a b Pettersson, Bertil (2008). "Young Stars and Dust Clouds in Puppis and Vela". In Reipurth, B. (ed.). Handbook of Star Forming Regions, Volume II: The Southern Sky ASP Monograph Publications. Vol. 5. p. 43. Bibcode:2008hsf2.book..683R. ISBN 978-1-58381-670-7.
- ^ "RCW 36". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ Baba; et al. (2004). "Deep Near-Infrared Imaging toward the Vela Molecular Ridge C. I. A Remarkable Embedded Cluster in RCW 36". The Astrophysical Journal. 614 (2): 818–826. arXiv:astro-ph/0406645. Bibcode:2004ApJ...614..818B. doi:10.1086/423705. S2CID 8037661.
- ^ a b Ellerbroek; et al. (2013). "RCW36: characterizing the outcome of massive star formation". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 558: A102. arXiv:1308.3238. Bibcode:2013A&A...558A.102E. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201321752. S2CID 55117416.
- ^ Lang, Kenneth R. (2012-12-06). Astrophysical Data: Planets and Stars. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4684-0640-5.
- ^ Feigelson; et al. (2013). "Overview of the Massive Young Star-Forming Complex Study in Infrared and X-Ray (MYStIX) Project". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 209 (2): 26. arXiv:1309.4483. Bibcode:2013ApJS..209...26F. doi:10.1088/0067-0049/209/2/26. S2CID 56189137.
- ^ Ellerbroek, L. E.; et al. (2012). "The Star Formation History of RCW 36". ASP Conference Proceedings. 464: 351. arXiv:1205.1513. Bibcode:2012ASPC..464..351E.