NGC 3324

{{Short description|Open cluster in the constellation Carina}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}

{{Infobox open cluster

| name = NGC 3324

| image = The star formation region NGC 3324.jpg

| image_size= 275px

| caption = NGC 3324 star-forming region
(2.2-metre MPG/ESO telescope at La Silla Observatory)

| epoch = J2000

| constellation = Carina

| ra = {{RA|10|37|20}}{{cite simbad |title=NGC 3324 |access-date=2 December 2016}}

| dec = {{DEC|-58|38|30}}

| dist_ly = {{convert|2800|pc|ly|order=flip|lk=on|abbr=on}}

| size_v = 11 arcmin

| radius_ly = {{cvt|4.5|pc|ly|order=flip|lk=on}}

| age = 12 ± 3 Myr

| mass_msol = 580

| notes =

| names = {{nowrap|ESO 128-EN006}}, {{nowrap|Cr 225}}, {{nowrap|Lund 552}}, {{nowrap|h 3286}}, {{nowrap|GC 2167}}, {{nowrap|C 1035-583}}, {{nowrap|OCl 819.0}}, {{nowrap|[KPR2004b] 254}}, {{nowrap|[KPS2012] MWSC 1830}}

}}

NGC 3324 is an open cluster in the southern constellation Carina, located northwest of the Carina Nebula {{nowrap|(NGC 3372)}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ngcicproject.org/pubdb.htm |title=NGC 3324 |website=The NGC/IC Project |access-date=2 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528100240/http://www.ngcicproject.org/pubdb.htm |archive-date=28 May 2009 |url-status=dead }}{{cite book |title=The Night Sky Observer's Guide |series=Volume 3: The Southern Skies |publisher=Willmann-Bell |first1=Ian |last1=Cooper |first2=Jenni |last2=Kay |first3=George Robert |last3=Kepple |page=52 |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-943396-89-7}} at a distance of {{convert|2800|pc|ly|order=flip|lk=on|abbr=on}} from Earth. It is closely associated with the emission nebula {{nowrap|IC 2599}}, also known as {{nowrap|Gum 31}}.{{cite simbad |title=IC 2599 |access-date=2 December 2016}} The two are often confused as a single object, and together have been nicknamed the "Gabriela Mistral Nebula" due to its resemblance to the Chilean poet.{{cite web |url=https://dso-browser.com/deep-sky/4314/gabriela-mistral-nebula/ngc-3324/bright-nebula |title=Gabriela Mistral Nebula · NGC 3324 |website=DSO-Browser.com |access-date=2 December 2016}}{{cite web |url=https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1207/ |title=A Pocket of Star Formation |publisher=European Southern Observatory |date=1 February 2012 |access-date=2 December 2016 |id=Photo Release eso1207}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nJ4rFjiQm48C&pg=PA81 |title=Imaging the Southern Sky: An Amateur Astronomer's Guide |series=Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media |location=New York |first1=Stephen |last1=Chadwick |first2=Ian |last2=Cooper |pages=81–83 |date=2012 |isbn=978-1-4614-4749-8 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-4750-4}} {{nowrap|NGC 3324}} was first catalogued by James Dunlop in 1826.

The Hubble Space Telescope observed a western section of NGC 3324 in detail, and the same section was one of the first observations of the James Webb Space Telescope, for comparison.