The VISTA Carina Nebula Survey

However, most of these studies were restricted to the inner parts (<=1 square-degree) of the nebula, and thus covered only a small fraction of the whole cloud complex. Our aim was to conduct a near-infrared survey that covers the full spatial extent (~5 square-degrees) of the Carina Nebula complex and is sensitive enough to detect all associated young stars through extinctions of up to A_V_~~6mag.

We used the 4m Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) of ESO to map an area of 6.7 square-degrees around the Carina Nebula in the near-infrared J-, H-, Ks-bands.