Nielawore
Westerlund 2 is a spectacular star cluster of 3000 stars, named after Bengt Westerlund, the Swedish astronomer who discovered it. Ranging from 6 to 13 light-years across, the cluster is only about 2 million years old. From a human perspective, this seems quite long, but on a stellar scale it is quite short.
The youth of the cluster is evident from the fact that most of the stars in it have not yet started hydrogen fusion in their cores. The red spots in the image represent nascent stars that are still surrounded by clouds of gas and dust. Westerlund 2 is located about 20,000 light-years from Earth and can be observed in the constellation Karina.
Image description:
A bright arc of multicolored gas in shades ranging from orange and red to blue and purple stretches across the left and bottom of this cosmic image. Numerous bright red stars are clustered close together in the arc, while other blue and red stars are scattered throughout the image.
Credits: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI) and Westerlund 2 Science Team
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