... Using the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have taken this long look at the core of our Milky Way galaxy, some 26,000 light-years away. ... Open Star Cluster M38 . ... Open cluster M38 can be seen with binoculars toward the constellation of Auriga. ... Sometimes, during a total eclipse of the Sun, a strange shadow of darkness can be seen stretching off into the distance. ... Were our Sun at the distance of these stars, about 170,000 light-years, it would hardly be discernable. ...