Solar composition star cluster

[NGC2420] Solar composition star cluster

Downloadable versions (see NOAO Conditions of Use):
200 x 200 9 kb color JPEG(on this page)
400 x 400 22 kb color JPEG
800 x 800 55 kb color JPEG
800 x 800 656 kb 8-bit color TIFF


New observations of the richly populated star cluster NGC2420 taken by the refurbished WIYN 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory suggest that the cluster contains a multitude of clues about the history and evolution of the Milky Way. NGC2420 consists of approximately 1,000 stars packed into a roughly spherical volume of space just 30 light-years in diameter. Because all of the stars in a star cluster have similar ages and initial compositions, star clusters can be used as a laboratory to study many different areas of astronomy. Further details of this interesting result can be found in NOAO press release 02-04.

Minimum credit line: WIYN/NOAO/NSF (for details see Conditions of Use)


Return to: stars page.
NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation

Comments by e-mail to images@noao.edu