Chandra Release - November 29, 2022 Visual Description: RCW 36 This release features a colorful composite image of a large gas cloud flecked with white dots, presented both unmarked, and with a labelled rollover. RCW 36 is a mustard yellow, burnt orange, royal blue, and violet cloud. It is mainly composed of hydrogen atoms that have been stripped of their electrons. The white dots are new stars, a major source of the region's hot gas. Many of the stars peek through thin gaps in the gas cloud near the center of the image. These gaps are surrounded by a loose band of relatively bright mustard yellow gas. At our upper and lower left, gauzy blues and purples dominate the cloud. To our right, darkened puffs of moss yellow cloud are set against a black background. The labelled overlay highlights three overlapping regions in this gas cloud. At our lower left and upper right are two large pink circles that extend beyond the edges of the image. These indicate cavities, or voids, carved out of the ionized hydrogen gas. These two circles overlap in the center of the image near the brightest stars in the cloud. This area is encircled by a tall white oval marking a ring of gas wrapping around the central star cluster.