NGC 1850: Not Found in the Milky Way
Explanation:
A mere 168,000 light-years distant, this large, lovely cluster of
stars,
NGC 1850,
is located near the outskirts of the central
bar structure in our neighboring galaxy, the
Large
Magellanic Cloud.
A first glance
at
this Hubble Space Telescope
composite
image suggests that
this cluster's size and shape are reminiscent of the ancient globular
star clusters which roam our own
Milky Way Galaxy's halo.
But NGC 1850's stars are young ... making it a type
of star cluster
with no known counterpart
in the Milky Way.
NGC 1850 is also a double star cluster, with a second, compact
cluster of stars visible here below and to the right of
the large cluster's central region.
Stars in the large cluster are estimated to be
50 million
years
young, while stars in the compact cluster are
younger still, with an age of about 4 million years.
In fact, the smaller cluster
contains T-Tauri
stars, thought
to be low mass, solar-type stars still
in the
process of formation.
The glowing nebula at the left, like the
supernova remnants in our own galaxy,
testifies to violent stellar explosions,
indicating short-lived
massive stars
were also present
in NGC 1850.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
