Gum 37 “Imaginary sounds”

Gum 37, also known as RCW 54c, is a diffuse HII emission region located in the southern constellation of Carina, this region is often overlooked due to the proximity to the famous Statue of Liberty Nebula.

Often referred to as the “Southern Tadpoles". which refer to the elephant trunk-like tendrils of interstellar gas and dust. These are highly compressed structures of molecular hydrogen, on one hand, collapsing hydrogen provides conditions for new star formation and on the other hand, the ultraviolet radiation from those newly formed stars is slowly eroding and destroying the nebula from within. Over time, this process will make the nebula disappear completely.

That giant "ear" at the top center of the image is believed to be a planetary nebula or a remnant of the molecular cloud that formed from the cluster. If it were a real ear, I believe it would sound like inflatables flapping in the wind, advertising “look at this spectacle of the universe.” Unfortunately, you cannot hear sound in the near-empty regions of space because sound travels through the vibration of atoms and molecules in a medium (like air or water), and space is a vacuum with no such medium.

Wonderful Data from Martin Pugh’s Planewave 24" at Obstech, Chile

LRGB-Ha -- Lum 15 at 600sec, RGB 12 at 180sec’HA 21-900, SII 28-900 and O3 21-900

Image Processing: Mark Hanson

Enjoy, Mark