Object Analysis

The Skull and Crossbones Nebula (NGC 2467) is a star-forming region in the constellation Puppis. It is often referred to as such because of the resemblance of its central dust lanes and bright clusters to a skull face with crossbones below it.

Despite looking like a single object, it is actually a superposition of several distinct stellar groups moving at different velocities along the same line of sight. The dominant cluster, Haffner 18, contains a very young star that is still interacting with its birth cloud, providing valuable data on the birth of massive stars.

Located about 13,000 to 17,000 light-years away, NGC 2467 is an active stellar nursery. The "eye sockets" of the skull are actually dark globules of dust where new stars are likely forming, shielded from the intense radiation of the surrounding O-type stars.