Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2024

22 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2024 ASTRO PUBLISHING Radiant stars at the heart of a cosmic rose by NOIRLab − Josie Fenske A round 5000 light-years away, the Rosette Nebula appears to be blooming right out the interstellar medium. Every detail of this cosmic flower, from its glowing central cavity to its shadowy fila- ments and globulettes, is captured in this image by the 570-megapixel Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), mounted on the U.S. National Sci- C radled within the fiery petals of the Rosette Nebula is NGC 2244, the young star cluster which it nurtured. The cluster’s stars light up the nebula in vi- brant hues of red, gold and purple, and opaque towers of dust rise from the bil- lowing clouds around its excavated core. This image, captured by 570-megapixel Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, is being released in celebration of NOIRLab’s fifth anniversary. [CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA − Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)]