Cloudy N11 Star Cluster in Nearby Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy | Hubble
This new NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope picture features a cloudy starscape from an impressive star cluster. This scene is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf galaxy situated about 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa. With a mass equal to 10–20% of the mass of the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small galaxies that orbit our galaxy.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is home to several massive stellar nurseries where gas clouds, like those strewn across this image, coalesce into new stars. This image depicts a portion of the galaxy’s second-largest star-forming region called N11. We see bright, young stars lighting up the gas clouds and sculpting clumps of dust with powerful ultraviolet radiation.
This image integrates observations made roughly 20 years apart, a testament to Hubble’s longevity. The first set of observations, carried out in 2002–2003, capitalized on the exquisite sensitivity and resolution of the then-newly-installed Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Astronomers turned Hubble toward the N11 star cluster to accomplishing a new task—cataloging all the stars in a young cluster with masses between 10% of the Sun’s mass and 100 times the Sun’s mass.
The second set of observations came from Hubble’s newest camera, the Wide Field Camera 3. These images focused on the dusty clouds that suffuse the cluster, bringing a new perspective on cosmic dust.
Image Description: Stars in a star cluster shine brightly blue with four-pointed spikes radiating from them. The center shows a small, crowded group of stars while a larger group lies out of view on the left. The nebula is mostly thick, smoky clouds of gas, lit up in blue tones by the stars. Clumps of dust hover before and around the stars; they are mostly dark, but lit around their edges where the starlight erodes them.
Release Date: Sept. 8, 2025
No comments:
Post a Comment