Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a striking photo of the open cluster NGC 2203.
This Hubble image shows the open cluster NGC 2203. The image includes optical and near-infrared observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Three filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / L. Girardi
NGC 2203 is an intermediate-age open cluster located in the southern constellation of Mensa.
Also known as ESO 34-4 and LW 380, it was discovered by the English astronomer John Herschel on January 23, 1836.
NGC 2203 is a distant outlyer of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that orbits our Milky Way Galaxy about 160,000 light-years away.
The cluster is approximately 31 light-years across, and contains stars that are roughly twice as massive as our Sun.
“Aside from its dazzling good looks, NGC 2203 contains lots of astronomical treats that have helped astronomers puzzle together the lifetimes of stars,” Hubble astronomers said.
“A main sequence star, like our Sun, is the term applied to a star during the longest period of its life, when it burns fuel steadily,” they explained.
“Our Sun’s fuel will run out in approximately 6 billion years, and it will then move on to the next stage of its life when it will turn into a red giant.”
“Astronomers studying NGC 2203’s massive strars found that their rotation might be a factor as to why some of the stars stay longer than usual in this main-sequence phase of their life.”
