Young stars in the open star cluster NGC 2547
The open star cluster NGC 2547 in the constellation of Vela
Wide-field view of the open star cluster NGC 2547
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A close look at the young stars in the open star cluster NGC 2547
Stars in the cluster NGC 2547
The Universe is an old neighbourhood — roughly 13.8 billion years
old. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is also ancient — some of its stars are
more than 13 billion years old (eso0425).
Nevertheless, there is still a lot of action: new objects form and
others are destroyed. In this image, you can see some of the newcomers,
the young stars forming the cluster NGC 2547.
But, how young are these cosmic youngsters really? Although their
exact ages remain uncertain, astronomers estimate that NGC 2547’s stars
range from 20 to 35 million years old. That doesn't sound all that
young, after all. However, our Sun is 4600 million years old and has not
yet reached middle age. That means that if you imagine that the Sun as a
40 year-old person, the bright stars in the picture are three-month-old
babies.
Most stars do not form in isolation, but in rich clusters with sizes
ranging from several tens to several thousands of stars. While NGC 2547
contains many hot stars that glow bright blue, a telltale sign of their
youth, you can also find one or two yellow or red stars which have
already evolved to become red giants. Open star clusters like this
usually only have comparatively short lives, of the order of several
hundred million years, before they disintegrate as their component stars
drift apart.
Clusters are key objects for astronomers studying how stars evolve
through their lives. The members of a cluster were all born from the
same material at about the same time, making it easier to determine the
effects of other stellar properties.
The star cluster NGC 2547 lies in the southern constellation of Vela
(The Sail), about 1500 light-years from Earth, and is bright enough to
be easily seen using binoculars. It was discovered in 1751 by the French
astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille during an astronomical expedition
to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, using a tiny telescope of less
than two centimetres aperture.
Between the bright stars in this picture you can see plenty of other
objects, especially when zooming in. Many are fainter or more distant
stars in the Milky Way, but some, appearing as fuzzy extended objects,
are galaxies, located millions of light-years beyond the stars in the
field of view.
More information
Contacts
Richard HookESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6655
Cell: +49 151 1537 3591
Email: rhook@eso.org
