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Sharpless 64 (also designated , Sh2-64,Westerhout 40 or W40 or RCW 174) is a star-forming region in our galaxy located in the constellation Serpens Cauda. In this region, interstellar gas forming a diffuse nebula surrounds a cluster of several hundred new-born stars. The distance to W40 is 436±9 pc (1420±30 light-years),making it one of the closest sites of formation of high-mass O- and B-type stars.[6] The Ionizing radiation from the massive OB stars has created an H II region,[7] which has an hour-glass morphology. Dust from the molecular cloud in which W40 formed obscures the nebula, rendering W40 difficult to observe at visible wavelengths of light. Thus, X-ray, infrared, and radio observations have been used to see through the molecular cloud to study the star-formation processes going on within.(Extracted from Wikipedia)
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