Nearly all of the objects on our
50 Weirdest countdown possess genuinely puzzling attributes. Most are one-of-a-kind specimens, embody baffling mysteries, or manifest mind-twisting cosmic realities like the warping of space. None of that is true for NGC 3324.
This is an ordinary, albeit enormous, nebula — a plain-vanilla cloud of hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe. Indeed, the name NGC 3324 belongs to a large nebular complex that is merely an outlying segment of another, as it sits northwest of the famous Eta Carinae Nebula (number 23 on our list).
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Fierce emissions and stellar winds from several hot young stars sculpted the patterns in this glowing nebula. A newborn cluster of these massive blue suns lies near enough that its ultraviolet energy ionizes the hydrogen, fluorescing the gas like a neon sign. Darker regions of cooler dust, with towers and strings of denser material, point toward the source of the radiation. These emissions from the nearby hot young stars, along with their winds of subatomic particles, are slowly eroding the “wall” of the structure, producing a curving high-contrast line of dusty gas. It all floats 7,200 light-years away in the constellation Carina.
So far, this rather technical description could apply to any active star-producing nebula like the Eagle (M16) or the Orion (M42), which thickly populate the back alleys of our galaxy like vaporous lemmings. There’s nothing truly unusual here in terms of science or astronomy. The sole reason NGC 3324 makes our list is that, like a Rorschach inkblot, it bears an uncanny resemblance to a human being.