NASA and ESA have just release the image of an open cluster dubbed Trumpler 14 located 8,000 light-years away where 2,000 young stars are releasing huge amounts of energy. The image captured by Hubble features HD 93129Aa, one of the hottest stars in our galaxy.
Scientists explained that these stars will quickly exhaust their fuel and make a grand finale as supernovae. NASA researchers added that Trumpler is the home of some of the shiniest stars in the entire Milky Way.
Trumpler 14 also breaks the record as the youngest cluster of stars in the Carina nebula. But despite its young age, its star formation rate has stunned scientists. Of the 2,000 stellar denizens of the cluster, some of them are tens of times larger than our own star. Supergiant HD 93129Aa is one of the brightest stars in the Milky Way.
NASA researchers explained that when they explode, these stars eject highly-energized particles into space. The ejected material heats up the surrounding material to millions of degrees an sparks immense X-ray bursts.
The resulting stellar winds shape the clouds of cosmic material which are also known by the name of stellar nurseries. The winds also accelerate new star formation within the clouds.
The two space agencies released the stunning image of the stellar cluster Thursday. Researchers dubbed the stars within the cluster “dazzling diamonds” due to their exotic shine. In a recent statement, NASA researchers said that Trumpler 14 is the home of the one of the highest densities of bright stars in the entire galaxy.
The “dazzling diamonds” are quickly consuming their hydrogen supply rushing to their spectacular demise. Astronomers calculate that the stars have only a few million years to live while the cluster must be 500,000 years old.
Researchers estimate that the smallest star in Trumpler 14 is one tenth the mass of our Sun while the largest is ten times the Sun’s size. The most luminous star in the cluster and one of the hottest in the galaxy is HD 93129Aa.
The recently-surveyed star cluster is one of the 1,100 clusters in the galaxy, but there may be more, researchers suggest.
In the image an arc-shaped cloud can be seen bellow the cluster. NASA scientists believe that it may be created by the stellar winds resulted from stellar bursts also known as supernovae. The curious structure must be a bow shock, scientists said, traveling through space at 217,000 miles per hour.
Image Source: Wikipedia
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