NGC 3324 is a colorful cloud of gas and dust located about 7,200 light-years away in the Carina constellation of the southern sky. It sits at the edge of a larger star-forming region known as the Carina Nebula, where new stars are being born from swirling clouds of cosmic material.

This nebula glows brightly because of the intense radiation from young, massive stars nearby. These stars light up the gas and push it around with strong stellar winds, creating dramatic shapes, dark dust lanes, and glowing ridges. It’s an area full of energy, transformation, and the early stages of stellar life.

NGC 3324 is also called the “Gabriela Mistral Nebula” because part of its shape resembles the side profile of Gabriela Mistra. Do you see her profile facing right? Mistral was  a renowned Chilean poet, educator, and humanitarian. She was the first Latin American author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1945. She was known for her powerful poetry on themes like love, sorrow, motherhood, and the struggles of the poor. NGC3324 is the only astronomical object named for a real person.

Astronomers and astrophotographers are especially drawn to NGC 3324 because of its beauty and the insight it provides into how stars form.