Hot Stars in the Rosette Nebula

Winds and radiation from massive hot stars in the Rosette Nebula have cleared the natal gas and dust from the center of the nearby star-forming region. They also pose a danger to planet forming disks around young, cooler stars in the neighborhood. This Spitzer Space Telescope (SST) infrared image of dust clouds near the Rosette's central region, shows the cleared-out cavity.
The view spans about 45 LY at the the nebula's estimated distance of 5.200 LY.