Astronomers Capture New Astounding Image of Colorful Cluster of Middle-Aged Stars

Astronomers have captured a spectacular new image of a colorful gathering of middle-aged stars. Known as NGC 3532, this bright open cluster reveals a spectacular array of stars that shine with blue and red light.

Located about 1,300 light-years away in the constellation of Carina, the star cluster is informally known as the Wishing Well Cluster. It resembles scattered silver coins which have been dropped in the well. It can easily be seen with the naked eye in the southern hemisphere, and was first discovered in 1752 by the French astronomer, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille.

NGC 3532 actually covers an area of the sky that is almost twice the size of the full moon. It consists of a grouping of stars that is about 300 million years old, which makes the stars middle-aged by open star cluster standards. They're composed of both stars with moderate masses, which shine with blue-white colors, and more massive stars that have already exhausted their supplies of hydrogen fuel, shining with red light as red giant stars.

In the new image, the background sky consists of the Milky Way that's crowded with stars. In addition, you can also see some glowing red gas in addition to subtle lanes of dust that block the view of more distant stars. These features are likely not connected to the cluster itself, but are instead part of other phenomenon.

For more information about this cluster, you can visit ESO's website.

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).