Close-up: Star Cluster NGC 6604 and its surroundings in Serpens Cauda | ESO

Close-up: Star Cluster NGC 6604 and its surroundings in Serpens Cauda | ESO

The star cluster NGC 6604 is shown in this image taken by the Wide Field Imager attached to the 2.2-meter MPG/European Southern Observatory telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. NGC 6604 is the bright grouping towards to the upper left of the image. It is a young star cluster that is the densest part of a more widely scattered association containing about one hundred brilliant blue-white stars. The picture also shows the cluster’s associated nebula—a cloud of glowing hydrogen gas that is called Sh2-54—as well as dust clouds.

Distance from Earth: ~5500 light years

Learn more about the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope:
https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Duration: 38 seconds
Release Date: April 25, 2012

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarClusters #NGC6604 #Sh254 #SerpensCaudaConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #MPGESOTelescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video