Close Up Of The Milky Way's Most Massive Known Stars

The gas and dust of the giant galactic nebula NGC 3603 have been swept aside by the ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds of the star cluster at its heart. This is what's called a starburst region and is home to thousands of stars, include 3 Wolf-Rayet type stars, one of which was recently confirmed by observations from the VLT as the Milky Way's most massive known.
Credit: NASA, ESA, R. O'Connell (University of Virginia), F. Paresce (National Institute for Astrophysics, Bologna, Italy), E. Young (Universities Space Research Association/Ames Research Center), the WFC3 Science Oversight Committee, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)