Super Star Cluster Westerlund 1
by Nasa/science Photo Library
Title
Super Star Cluster Westerlund 1
Artist
Nasa/science Photo Library
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Super star cluster Westerlund 1, X-ray image. This star cluster is the first super star cluster to be discovered in our Milky Way galaxy. It is only six light years across but contains around 500,000 stars, many of which are huge and extremely powerful. The bright object towards bottom left is a neutron star that was formed when a very massive star collapsed. It had been predicted that the star would collapse to form a black hole. Westerlund 1 lies 10,000 light years away in the constellation Ara. Data from the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer on the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
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February 17th, 2021
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