For some astonomers, it might be time to thank their lucky stars. Improved optics on board the ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile has given scientists the perfect view of a densely packed area of stars known as the Arches Cluster, situated in the Capricorn constellation. It's not just Hubble and Herschel getting all the credit lately.
ScienceDaily are reporting that the star cluster is situated some 25,000 light-years away, just a tad further than our closest star neighbour, the sun. And beyond that, our closest and brightest companion is Alpha Centauri - still some 4.7 light years away. So at 25,000 light years, we're still looking at quite the space distance before we ever thinking about launching some sort of probe bot there.
The updated Arches Cluster images, which are said to be even clearer than those taken in space (thanks to one heck of a digital Photoshop job we're guessing), have given scientists a sneak peak at how stars are born in our own Milky Way.
And with the volatility of the area, thanks to various gases and black hole phenomena, astronomers can now use the images to better understand the lifecycle of stars.
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| The Arches Cluster: one of the most densely packed spots for young stars known today. (Source: Wikicommons) |
The report also mentions that the Arches Cluster is now believed to be the most tightly packed cluster of young stars known to man. And we're not talking Australian Idol or Susan Boyle wannabe's either.
Using advanced telescopic optics developed in tandem with NACO and the ESO, astronomers found a host of astronomical rarities not previously expected.
One star, for instance measured 120 times the size of our sun and the actual density of the Arches star cluster is so big, that it was found to measure 3 light years across - more than a million times the same desnity that the sun occupies in our solar system.
For more info, ScienceDaily have all the details.