NGC 6357

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title: "NGC 6357" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["h-ii-regions", "scorpius", "ngc-objects", "sharpless-objects", "star-forming-regions"] description: "Emission nebula in the constellation Scorpius" topic_path: "general/h-ii-regions" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_6357" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Emission nebula in the constellation Scorpius ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox nebula"]

Field	Value
name	NGC 6357
image	Cosmic ‘Winter’ Wonderland.jpg
caption	NGC 6357 composite image
credit	X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/L.Townsley et al.; Optical: UKIRT; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech
type	H II REGION
epoch	J2000
ra	{{cite simbad
title	NGC 6357
access-date	2007-05-03}}
dec
constellation	Scorpius{{cite book
editor	R. W. Sinnott
title	The Complete New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters by J. L. E. Dreyer
date	1988
publisher	Sky Publishing Corporation and Cambridge University Press
isbn	978-0-933346-51-2}}
dist_ly	~5900±450
title	Kinematics in Young Star Clusters and Associations with Gaia DR2
journal	The Astrophysical Journal
volume	870
arxiv	1807.02115
first1	Michael A.
last2	Hillenbrand
first2	Lynne A.
last3	Sills
first3	Alison
last4	Feigelson
first4	Eric D.
last5	Getman
first5	Konstantin V.
s2cid	119328315
doi-access	free
dist_pc	1800±140
names	War and Peace Nebula, Lobster Nebula Sharpless 11, RCW 131, Gum 66, Madokami
::

| name = NGC 6357 | image = Cosmic ‘Winter’ Wonderland.jpg | caption = NGC 6357 composite image | credit = X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/L.Townsley et al.; Optical: UKIRT; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech | type = H II REGION | epoch = J2000 | ra = {{cite simbad | title=NGC 6357 | access-date=2007-05-03}} | dec = | constellation = Scorpius{{cite book | editor=R. W. Sinnott | title= The Complete New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters by J. L. E. Dreyer | date=1988 | publisher=Sky Publishing Corporation and Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-933346-51-2}} | dist_ly = ~5900±450 | title= Kinematics in Young Star Clusters and Associations with Gaia DR2 | journal=The Astrophysical Journal | volume=870 |issue=1 |pages=32|year=2018 |arxiv = 1807.02115 |bibcode = 2019ApJ...870...32K |doi = 10.3847/1538-4357/aaef8c | last1=Kuhn | first1=Michael A. | last2=Hillenbrand | first2=Lynne A. | last3=Sills | first3=Alison | last4=Feigelson | first4=Eric D. | last5=Getman | first5=Konstantin V. | s2cid=119328315 | doi-access=free | dist_pc = 1800±140 | names = War and Peace Nebula, Lobster Nebula Sharpless 11, RCW 131, Gum 66, Madokami

NGC 6357 is a diffuse nebula near NGC 6334 in the constellation Scorpius. The nebula contains many proto-stars shielded by dark discs of gas, and young stars wrapped in expanding "cocoons" or expanding gases surrounding these small stars. It is also known as the Lobster Nebula. This nebula was given the name War and Peace Nebula by the Midcourse Space Experiment scientists because of its appearance, which, in infrared images the bright, western part resembles a dove, while the eastern part looks like a skull. A petition by anime fans to rename it as the Madokami nebula, due to resemblance with a character, was unsuccessful.

It is located about 5,500 light years away from Earth. NGC 6357 is connected by a filamentary structure to NGC 6334, and the two may form a single complex.{{cite journal | title=NGC 6334 and NGC 6357. Insights from spectroscopy of their OB star populations | display-authors=1 | last1=Russeil | first1=D. | last2=Adami | first2=C. | last3=Bouret | first3=J. C. | last4=Hervé | first4=A. | last5=Parker | first5=Q. A. | last6=Zavagno | first6=A. | last7=Motte | first7=F. | journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics | volume=607 | at=id. A86 | date=November 2017 | doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201629870 | bibcode=2017A&A...607A..86R }}

Associated open clusters

Pismis 24

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/EmissionNebula_NGC6357.jpg" caption="A [[Hubble Space Telescope]] (HST) image of [[Pismis 24-1]], the "core" of NGC 6357."] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/NGC_6357.jpg" caption="[[Dark Energy Camera]] captures the star-forming nebula NGC 6357"] ::

This nebula includes the open cluster Pismis 24, which is home to several massive stars. One of the brightest stars in the cluster, Pismis 24-1, was thought possibly to be the most massive on record, approaching 300 solar masses, until it was discovered to be a multiple system of at least three stars; component stars would still remain near 100 solar masses each, making them among the more massive stars on record.{{cite web |title = ESA Science & Technology: Star on a Hubble diet NGC 6357 |url = http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/html/heic0619a.html |access-date = 2007-04-11 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070404011712/http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/html/heic0619a.html |archive-date = 2007-04-04

G353.2+0.7

The young stellar cluster G353.2+0.7 lies east of Pismis 24 and was revealed by a Chandra X-ray image showing approximately 800 stars.

G353.1+0.6

The young stellar cluster G353.1+0.6 lies southeast of Pismis 24 and also contains approximately 800 stars detected by X-ray.

Massive stars

NGC 6357 is one of the most prominent sites of massive-star formation in our neighborhood of the Milky Way. A variety of early O-type stars reside in this nebula, blowing the bubbles around the star clusters that can be seen in the molecular cloud.

::data[format=table title="Prominent stars in Pismis 24{{Cite journal | last1 = Fang | first1 = M. | last2 = Van Boekel | first2 = R. | last3 = King | first3 = R. R. | last4 = Henning | first4 = T. | last5 = Bouwman | first5 = J. | last6 = Doi | first6 = Y. | last7 = Okamoto | first7 = Y. K. | last8 = Roccatagliata | first8 = V. | last9 = Sicilia-Aguilar | first9 = A. | title = Star formation and disk properties in Pismis 24 | doi = 10.1051/0004-6361/201015914 | journal = Astronomy & Astrophysics | volume = 539 | pages = A119 | year = 2012 |arxiv = 1201.0833 |bibcode = 2012A&A...539A.119F | s2cid = 73612793 }}"] | Star name | Spectral type | Magnitude (Mbol) | Temperature (K) | Radius () | Mass () | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | WR 93 (HD 157504) | WC7 | -11.2 | 71,000 | 10 | 120 | | Pismis 24-1NE | O3.5 If* | −10.0 | 42,000 | 17 | 74 | | Pismis 24-1SW | O4 III | −9.8 | 41,500 | 16 | 66 | | Pismis 24-2 | O5.5 V(f) | −8.9 | 40,000 | 12 | 43 | | Pismis 24-3 | O8 V | −7.7 | 33,400 | 9 | 25 | | Pismis 24-10 | O9 V | −7.2 | 31,500 | 8 | 20 | | Pismis 24-12 | B1 V | −5.3 | 30,000 | 4 | 11 | | Pismis 24-13 | O6.5 III((f)) | −8.6 | 35,600 | 12 | 35 | | Pismis 24-15 | O8 V | −7.8 | 33,400 | 10 | 25 | | Pismis 24-16 | O7.5 V | −9.0 | 34,000 | 16 | 38 | | Pismis 24-17 | O3.5 III | −10.1 | 42,700 | 17 | 78 | | Pismis 24-18 | B0.5 V | −6.4 | 30,000 | 6 | 15 | | Pismis 24-19 | B0.5 V | −5.4 | 30,000 | 4 | 11 | ::

References

References

1. Sample, Ian. (20 February 2013). "Lobster Nebula – birthplace of stars – revealed in infrared".
2. (25 February 2013). "Lobster Nebula Seen with ESO's VISTA Telescope Space Wallpaper".
3. "2MASS Picture of the Week Archive Captions".
4. "There Is A New Petition To Name A Nebula After "Ultimate Madoka"". crunchyroll.com.
5. "NGC 6357. The Lobster Nebula". astrodrudis.com.
6. (20 December 2016). "Winter Wonderland' Glows in Space as Nebula Is Wreathed in Wintry Colors". [[Space.com]].
7. (19 December 2006). "NASA: Massive Stars in Open Cluster Pismis 24".
8. Townsley, L. K.. (2014). "The Massive Star-Forming Regions Omnibus X-Ray Catalog". Astrophysical Journal Supplement.
9. Damke, G.. (2006). "The open cluster G353.1+0.7 in NGC6357". Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica.
10. (2012). "Star formation and disk properties in Pismis 24". Astronomy & Astrophysics.
11. (2005). "A new calibration of stellar parameters of Galactic O stars". Astronomy and Astrophysics.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::