Features
It is surrounded by the most massive visible cloud of glowing gas and plasma known as a H II region in the Milky Way. HD 97950 is the central star of star cluster, the densest concentration of very massive stars known in the galaxy. Strong ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds have cleared the gas and dust, giving an unobscured view of the cluster.
Three prominent Wolf-Rayet stars have been detected within the cluster. These three massive stars have been observed and their solar mass measured using the Very Large Telescope. The largest of the three, NGC 3603-A1 is a blue double star that orbit around each other once every 3.77 days. The two combined have a solar mass that is 200 times more massive than our Sun: (A1-a) is the largest known star in our galaxy with an estimated mass of 116 solar masses, while its companion (A1-b) has a mass of 89 solar masses.
NGC 3603 is visible in the telescope as a small rather insignificant nebulosity with a yellowish tinge due to the effects of interstellar absorption. In the mid-1960s optical studies coincided with radio astronomical observations which showed it to be an extremely strong thermal radio source. Later observations in other galaxies introduced the concept of 'starburst' regions, in some cases whole galaxies, of extremely rapid star formation and NGC 3603 is now considered to be such a region.
In 1987 a supernova (known as SN 1987A) occurred in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This was the first supernova to be close enough for detailed observation with satellite based telescopes. One result was the discovery that prior to the main explosion it had thrown off a relatively small amount of material in a very distinctive pattern, a bit like an hourglass perpendicular to a detached glowing ring. One star in NGC 3603 (Sher 25, the number comes from the 1960s optical observations) was found to have thrown off matter in a pattern similar to that found for the supernova 1987A. This coincidence has aroused intense interest.
Read more about this topic: NGC 3603
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“Art is the child of Nature; yes,
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—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)