Omega Nebula

star-forming region · M17 · the Swan · in Sagittarius

5,480 light-years from Earth

One of the brightest star-forming regions in our galaxy. Its brightest gas forms a bar with a hook at one end, a swan or a Greek omega. Massive young stars inside are eating into the dark cloud beside it, where new stars are still forming.

• 5,500 light-years (Gaia) · its bright part about 20 light-years across
• its central stars are only about a million years old

kind

nebula

catalogue

M17 · NGC 6618

size

40 light-years across