NGC 3247

Background

RCW 49, also cataloged as NGC 3247, is an H II region that lies about 13,700 light years from Earth. It is a dusty stellar nursery containing more than 2,200 stars and spans roughly 300 to 400 light years across. The nebula is recognized as among the brightest and most massive H II regions. In 2004, an image taken in 2003 by the Spitzer Space Telescope was released, showing the nebula in infrared wavelengths with colors mapped to visible light: 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8 microns (red).

The infrared camera could detect stars obscured by dust clouds, and it was estimated that at least 200 of the stars in the nebula have dust disks. Observations from the Spitzer Telescope, including its IRAC camera, led to the conclusion that the region is a star-forming region. In 2014, RCW 49 was identified as a bow shock candidate, along with M17, in a study of Extended Red Objects and stellar wind bow shocks in the Carina nebula.