... 2007 April 15 . M3: Inconstant Star Cluster . ... Explanation: Star clusters appear constant because photographs of them are frozen in time. In reality, though, cluster stars swarm the center and frequently fluctuate in brightness. ... In fact, the above time lapse movie of bright globular cluster M3 was taken over a single night. Most of the variable stars visible above are RR Lyrae stars , stars that can quickly double their brightness while becoming noticeably bluer. ... About APOD | ...

... NGC 3603: From Beginning To End . ... You-Hua Chu ( UIUC ), NASA Explanation: From beginning to end, different stages of a star's life appear in this exciting Hubble Space Telescope picture of the environs of galactic emission nebula NGC 3603 . ... At picture center lies a cluster of bright hot blue stars whose strong winds and ultraviolet radiation have cleared away nearby material. ... NASA Official: Jay Norris. ... Publications with keywords: nebula - star formation - planet formation - supernova...

... May 22, 1996 . Star Cluster in the Rosette Nebula . ... Explanation: Embedded in the center of the colorful and photogenic Rosette Nebula is a bright, young open cluster . The bright blue stars in this cluster, labelled NGC 2244, emit ultraviolet light that knocks electrons away from hydrogen atoms . ... The Rosette Nebula is thousands of light years distant, but light would take only about 100 years to cross it. ... Tomorrow's picture: The Violent Star Cluster 30 Doradus . ... About APOD | ...

... To be read in conjunction with Section 4.11 of the WFPC2 Instrument Handbook , -Version 4.0. ... 1 The second study found evidence that CTE loss for faint stars has increased with time (Whitmore, 1998). The primary observational consequence of CTE loss is that a point source at the top of the chip appears to be fainter than if observed at the bottom of the chip, due to the loss of electrons as the star is read out down the chip (see Figure 1 ). ... Last updated: 06/16/98 10:38:00 . ...

... Bad Astronomy . ... Bitesize Astronomy . ... Last week's Snack talked about how black holes can affect the environment around them in such a way as to be very bright . ... It's a common misconception that black holes always have matter swirling into them. ... As this matter gets closer and closer to the black hole it piles up and a large, fairly flat disk forms. This is called the accretion disk , because matter from this disk accretes (that is, falls in) on the black hole. ... 2008 Phil Plait. ...

Stellar Clusters are very useful laboratories for empirically studying stellar evolution. ... All cluster stars are at the same distance . All cluster stars have the same physical age . ... CM diagram Young Cluster In this case we see the Main Sequence fully represented.