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Credit & Copyright: Dieter Willasch
(Astro-Cabinet)
Explanation:
Open clusters of stars can be near or far, young or old,
and diffuse or compact.
Found near the plane
of our Milky Way galaxy, they
contain from 100 to 10,000 stars, all of which formed at
nearly the same time.
Bright blue stars frequently
distinguish younger open clusters.
M35,
on the upper left, is relatively nearby at 2800
light years distant, relatively young at 150 million years old,
and relatively diffuse, with about 2500 stars spread out over a
volume 30 light years across.
An older and more compact open cluster,
NGC 2158,
is at the lower right.
NGC 2158 is four times
more distant than
M35,
over 10 times older, and much more compact with many
more stars in roughly the same volume of space.
NGC 2158's bright blue stars have
self-destructed,
leaving cluster light to be dominated by
older and yellower stars.
Both
clusters are seen toward the constellation of
Gemini.
APOD Editors to Speak:
RJN in
Philadelphia on Jan. 3 &
JTB in New York City on Jan.
4
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: M 35 - NGC 2158 - open cluster
Publications with words: M 35 - NGC 2158 - open cluster
See also:
- APOD: 2025 April 28 B Gum 37 and the Southern Tadpoles
- Open Star Clusters M35 and NGC 2158
- APOD: 2025 February 25 B M41: The Little Beehive Star Cluster
- APOD: 2025 February 11 B The Spider and the Fly
- APOD: 2024 October 29 B NGC 602: Stars Versus Pillars from Webb
- NGC 7789: Caroline s Rose
- APOD: 2024 July 2 B NGC 602: Oyster Star Cluster