NGC 3293

Open cluster in Carina

Image copyright: Brett du Preez.

The brilliant open cluster NGC 3293 was discovered in 1751 by Abbe de Lacaille while observing in Cape Town. It lies near the fabulous eta Carinae Nebula (NGC 3372) within the large diffuse nebula Gum 30. Inspired by this misty background, South African deep-sky observer Carol Botha traces the outline of a hubbly-bubbly pipe amongst the stars of the cluster. The bright orange-red star on its south-western edge (on the right of the cluster in the photo above) contrasts beautifully with the blue-white cluster members. NGC 3293 is a young cluster (10 million years old) that lies in the Sagittarius arm of our Galaxy, some 9 600 light years away.

Photographer: Brett du Preez. Equipment: TS Optics Customized Newtonian Astrograph and an Atik 383L+. Exposures: Thirty 3-minute subs. Location: Stellenbosch, South Africa. Date: 2013 April.