There are 1,100 stars located 160,000 light years from Earth, and we can see all of them thanks to the hubble telescope from NASA. It is NGC 2002, a group of red supergiants found in the Large Magellanic Cloud, in an image shared this week by scientists from the US aerospace agency.
This open star cluster is about 30 light-years across, as well as being relatively young: it originated 18 million years ago.
As NASA explains, NGC 2002 is more spherical than a typical open cluster, so the researchers were able to discern individual stars, always using the Hubble Telescope.
What are Magellanic clouds?
There are two Magellanic clouds, named after the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, who was the first European to observe them, during his trip around the Earth (1519-1522). They are the Big Cloud and the Little Cloud.
Both are dwarf galaxies, belonging to the Local Group of galaxies, visible from the southern hemisphere on nights with clear cloudless skies and no moon.
NGC 2002, within the Large Magellanic Cloud, contains about 1,100 stars: the most massive tend to sink towards the center, while the lightest ones move away from the center. It contains five red supergiants, physically massive but cooler stars that fuse helium after running out of hydrogen, as NASA explains.
The history of NASA’s Hubble Telescope
NASA’s Hubble Telescope was launched on April 24, 1990, thanks to the Space Shuttle Discovery, entering service on May 20 of that year. To his credit are achievements such as detailing a cloud of gases that supports the existence of black holes, or images of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, both in 1994.
He also took photos of the Keyhole and Eagle nebulae, the Antennae galaxies, and the Cat’s Eye Nebula.
Although the Webb Telescope currently surpasses the Hubble in power, it will always surprise us with the images it captures. Its work is expected to last at least until 2030 or 2050.