This cluster, also known as Messier 44, is home to about 1,000 stars loosely bound together by gravity. At about 600 light years from Earth, it is one of the closest clusters. New images from Hubble show just a fraction of this collection of intertwined stars, along with some distant galaxies.

The details of the images are as follows:

1. Against a black background, a few bright stars and many background galaxies are visible.

2. The galaxies and stars in the background are interspersed on a black background. Some distant galaxies are spiral.