Featured Image: FLAMINGOS-2 Images a Swan

Credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA

This FLAMINGOS-2 near-infrared image details part of the magnificent Swan Nebula (M17), where ultraviolet radiation streaming from young hot stars sculpts a dense region of dust and gas into myriad fanciful forms. M17 lies some 5,200 light-years distant in the constellation Sagittarius and is one of the most massive and luminous star-forming region's in our Galaxy. It is also one of the most studied. Field of view: 5.5 x 4.0 arcmin. This image was obtained in 2013 prior to work done with FLAMINGOS-2 to improve PSF issues at the edge of the field-of-view. Full resolution images can be found at Gemini Image Gallery.