page_title: NGC 6357
section_title: Pismis 24
hierarchical_section_title: NGC 6357 / Associated Open Clusters / Pismis 24
caption_attribution_description: The star cluster Pismis 24 lies in the core of the large emission nebula NGC 6357 that extends one degree on the sky in the direction of the Scorpius constellation. Part of the nebula is ionised by the youngest (bluest) heavy stars in Pismis 24. The intense ultraviolet radiation from the blazing stars heats the gas surrounding the cluster and creates a bubble in NGC 6357. The presence of these surrounding gas clouds makes probing into the region even harder.
context_page_description: NGC 6357 is a diffuse nebula near NGC 6334 in the constellation Scorpius. The nebula contains many proto-stars shielded by dark disks of gas, and young stars wrapped in expanding "cocoons" or expanding gases surrounding these small stars. It is also known as the Lobster Nebula and the Madokami Nebula by some fans of the anime Madoka Magica due to its resemblance to the main character from the anime and a popular fan petition to rename it.
  This nebula was also 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.
  It is located about 5500 light years away from Earth.
context_section_description: 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.
caption: A Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of Pismis 24-1, the "core" of NGC 6357.
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