The Hubble House Telescope affords astronomers nice appears at stars throughout the Milky Way, nevertheless it’s delicate sufficient to additionally research objects outdoors our dwelling galaxy.
And Hubble‘s views of distant locations permit astronomers to ask quite a lot of attention-grabbing questions, comparable to, Why are so many stars in NGC 2031 shining in blue?
Stars can are available an array of shapes, sizes, ages and colours. However within the case of NGC 2031, the context would not fairly match the colours. NGC 2031 is an object referred to as a globular cluster, which is thought to have older stars. Nonetheless, blue stars normally shine brightly and die younger.
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In an image description (opens in new tab) that accompanies a glittering Hubble shot of NGC 2031, NASA officers provide details about what astronomers suppose up to now. One potential clarification they supply is that different stars outdoors the globular cluster are distorting their look.
NGC 2031 is situated outdoors the Milky Way, in a a lot smaller satellite galaxy referred to as the Large Magellanic Cloud. The “cloud” a part of the title alludes to the thing’s smudge-like look within the southern sky.
In line with NASA, the globular cluster is situated inside a dense a part of the Giant Magellanic Cloud. “Its location on this crowded space leads to ‘stellar contamination,’ a phenomenon the place the atmospheres and floor options of close by stars have an effect on the measurements of objects below research,” in keeping with the space company.
One other risk is that older stars are combining to kind new objects, referred to as “blue stragglers.” This might occur as a result of stars of a globular cluster are huddled very shut to at least one one other, sure to one another by their mutual gravity.
NGC 2031 additionally homes one other stellar oddity. In line with NASA, the globular cluster is dwelling to about 14 identified Cepheid variable stars. Due to their periodic dimming and brightening, astronomers can use Cepheids as distance beacons. Utilizing measurements from Cepheid variable stars, scientists estimate the space of NGC 2031 to be about 150,000 light-years from Earth.
After which, the visible great thing about the blue stars on this scene is a bonus deal with on high of all of the science.
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