Object  NGC 3576 & 3603
Info NGC 3576 (right) & NGC 3603 (partly left there of) are two of the most luminous HII regions in our Milky Way galaxy. In our line of sight these two objects are located in the constellation of Carina. Physically however, they are non-related. NGC 3603 (14000L.y.)located in the Carina arm, is twice as far away as NGC 3576 (7000 L.y.) located in the Sagittarius arm of  our Milky Way galaxy, even though they appear as if they are side by side. There are some common features, both are undergoing high rates of stellar formation. NGC 3576 is charactorised by its stellar wind blown loops, also containing several embedded clusters: star formation has sequentially increased in the last several million years. The bright HII emission extends around 100 light years across and contains sparse areas of small dark nebulae known as Bok Globules. These dark formations consist of gas and dust being highly compressed stellar nurseries consisting of 10 to 50 solar masses within a single L.y. They are often  found within HII regions.

 
Date Ha data  13/ 1/  & Rgb data 25/ 1/ 09
Location BayTop Observatory- Streaky Bay South Australia
Instrument Home built 10" Newtonian (Bob Royce primary) and an Antares 1/20th wave secondary with MPCC coma corrector. System working @ native f4/ 1016 FL  1.35 arcsec/pixel- FOV  23.3x29.4
Mount Celestron CI700 controlled by a Mel Bartels Goto Control System with Vexta PK264m-01b motors with a pulley and belt system
Camera (CCD) Starlight Xpress HX916 monochrome CCD with Atik manual filter wheel.
Exposures Ha: 120' R:24' G:24' B:24' (3min sub exposures all unbinned)     No dark frames removed.
Guiding   Orion 80ED refractor F7.5 with a Starlight Xpress HX516 CCD. Mounted via a side by side accessory plate.                    
Filters Astronomik Ha 13nM & typeII clr  RGB filter set
Notes/ Conditions

 Conditions- 13/ 1/-This was the first night in about a week where the wind stopped blowing fiercely. During the day it was a warm 36*C, the night stayed around 19*C but the seeing settled nicely and was quite a transparent night. 25/1/- The last few evenings have seen a heavy sea mist mixed with dust. This evening it was fairly settled with average seeing.