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Astronomy Picture of the Day - NGC 602: Oyster Star Cluster
NASA ^ | 2 Jul, 2024 | Image Credit: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al; Optical: Hubble: NASA/STScI; I

Posted on 07/02/2024 12:00:36 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: The clouds may look like an oyster, and the stars like pearls, but look beyond. Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies this 5 million year old star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by its birth shell of gas and dust, star cluster NGC 602 is featured in this stunning Hubble image, augmented in a rollover by images in the X-ray by the Chandra Observatory and in the infrared by Spitzer Telescope. Fantastic ridges and swept back gas strongly suggest that energetic radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation moving away from the star cluster's center. At the estimated distance of the Small Magellanic Cloud, the featured picture spans about 200 light-years, but a tantalizing assortment of background galaxies are also visible in this sharp view. The background galaxies are hundreds of millions of light-years -- or more -- beyond NGC 602.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 07/02/2024 12:00:36 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 07/02/2024 12:01:00 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page. More photos added.)
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To: MtnClimber
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

I did not post yesterday because it was lame And I did not want to waste your time. Today's post is great.

3 posted on 07/02/2024 12:01:15 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page. More photos added.)
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To: MtnClimber

Incredible.


4 posted on 07/02/2024 12:04:47 PM PDT by Tommy Revolts (,,)
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To: MtnClimber

That really does look like an oyster!


5 posted on 07/02/2024 12:10:55 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630

I see a face


6 posted on 07/02/2024 12:13:55 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

Actually, it looks more like a giant clam shell.


7 posted on 07/02/2024 12:26:51 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: MtnClimber

200,000 LY away! Our galaxy is 100,000 LY in diameter. Those scopes have some reach.


8 posted on 07/02/2024 12:31:39 PM PDT by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! 🔭)
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To: MtnClimber
Even at Warp 9 it will take 274+ years to get there...nice pic thoughwarp-calc
9 posted on 07/02/2024 12:44:12 PM PDT by The Louiswu (Pray for Peace in the world.)
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To: MtnClimber

The world is my oyster
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha


10 posted on 07/02/2024 12:47:06 PM PDT by null and void (The last war America actually won was WWII, because the CIA wasn't organized until after that war!)
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