The stunning cosmic imagery from Hubble continues to emerge. The open star cluster NGC 2002 was the subject of one of the most recent photographs taken by the satellite telescope. About 160,000 light-years from Earth is where you'll find this cluster. In early December, NASA released this Hubble photograph of the cluster.
The star cluster was previously classified by the space agency as an open cluster inside the Large Magellanic Cloud when the picture was first released (LMC). Several star-forming areas in LMC, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, have been examined by astronomers throughout the years. NGC 2002 is much more spherical than typical open clusters.
This area of space, like most open star clusters, has a lower stellar density and an irregular form as a result of the stars' weaker mutual gravitational interaction. Because of this, Hubble was able to more easily acquire a picture of the cluster and examine individual stars inside it.
As far as NASA can tell, there are around 1,100 stars in the cluster. Other globular clusters in the vicinity have also been imaged by Hubble. The cluster NGC 1850, which is considerably denser than this open one, has been the subject of many recent studies by the telescope.
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Also, READ: NASA: Hubble Space Telescope takes stunning images of Milky Way galaxy
Such photographs may not reveal as much as the initial ones taken by James Webb's telescope, but they are crucial to our ongoing quest for knowledge about the cosmos. By learning more about these stellar nurseries, we can delve into the nitty-gritty of star formation, a process whose details we now lack.
On Labor Day of last year, NASA also revealed another photograph of a star cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
