Hah!!!! I found the nebula and the cluster!!!! smile1 hyper jump

It is obvious from the picture that we are talking about a huge, massive cluster and a huge, massive, multiple kind of nebula. And yet I didn't recognize it. I think I have a moderately good idea of what all the massive well-known clusters with associated nebulae look like in the Milky Way, and this wasn't one of them! And I realize I'm sort of overstaying my astronomy welcome here, but I can't resist posting the only two Milky Way nebulae with clusters that resemble the complex I posted. The most well-known would be the Rosette Nebula - please note the central cluster and the central bubble blown in the nebula by the cluster:

The Rosette Nebula

There is also the magnificent RCW 49 nebula with the spectacularly massive Westerlund 2 cluster in the center:

RCW 49 and Westerlund 2

But apart from these two magnificent nebulae I don't know of any other nebula in the Milky Way which has this elegant cluster-bubble-surrounding nebula kind of structure. So we'd better look for my mystery nebula in another galaxy. But which one? Well, the Large Magellanic Cloud would be an excellent candidate, since it is the nearast of all moderately largish neighbouring galaxies, and it has a lot of star formation and therefore an abundance of nebulae. So I needed a good image of the Large Magellanic Cloud, so I could scrutinize the nebulae!

Here is an image of the Large Magellanic Cloud which really brings out the nebulae:

[Linked Image]

Look at the nebula at top right! Doesn't it look a lot like my nebula?

I needed a better image of the Large Magellanic Cloud! Here is a labelled image of this galaxy, where all the important clusters and nebulae get names:

Labelled image of the Large Magellanic Cloud

And take a look at that complex named NGC 1760-63!

So I googled NGC 1763, and look what I came up with! Woo-hooo!!!

[Linked Image]

It's the same cluster and nebulae, only with a somewhat different color balance and orientation. But it is the same complex! Hah! jump

Ann