With more clarity than is possible even with the Hubble Space Telescope, this infrared image of the Arches Cluster is the sharpest image ever taken of this cluster, which is located less than 100 light years from the center of our galaxy. The cluster is so densely packed that 300,000 of its stars would fill the empty space between our sun and our nearest stellar neighbor Alpha Centauri, 4.3 light years away. Gemini's unique capabilities allowed the telescope on Hawaii's Mauna Kea to image this cluster at an unprecedented clarity.

Gemini South image showing a section of the "Trapezium" region of the Orion Nebula as seen at infrared wavelengths using the Flamingos-I near infrared imager. Full Resolution TIF (7.78 MB) Medium Resolution JPG (95.86 KB) Gemini Observatory Image/Video Usage Policy

Central region of the Trifid Nebula (M20 in the Messier Catalogue) taken by the Gemini North 8-meter Telescope on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii, June 5, 2002. Located in the constellation of Sagittarius, the beautiful nebula is a much-photographed, dynamic cloud of gas and dust where stars are being born. One of the massive stars at the nebula's center was born approximately 100,000 years ago. The nebula's distance from the Solar System remains in dispute, but it is generally agreed to be somewhere between 2,200 to 9,000 light years away.

A timely discovery by American amateur astronomer Jay McNeil, followed immediately by observations at the Gemini Observatory, has provided a rare glimpse into the slow, yet violent birth of a star about 1,500 light-years away. The resulting findings reveal some of the strongest stellar winds ever detected around an embryonic Sun-like star.

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