Star Cluster R136 Bursts Out
Explanation:
In the center of star-forming region
30 Doradus
lies a huge cluster of the largest, hottest,
most massive stars known.
Known as
R136, the cluster's
energetic stars are breaking out of the
cocoon of gas and dust from which they formed.
This disintegrating cocoon, which fills the rest of the recently released
above picture by the
Hubble Space Telescope,
is predominantly
ionized hydrogen from 30 Doradus.
R136 is composed of thousands of
hot blue stars,
some about 50 times more massive than our
Sun.
R136, also known as
NGC 2070, lies in the
LMC - a satellite galaxy to our own
Milky Way Galaxy.
Although the young ages of stars in R136 make it
similar to a Milky Way
open cluster,
its high density of stars will likely turn it into a low mass
globular cluster
in a few billion years.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
