ESA Hubble News (heic1009) - 02 June 2010
surprising signs of unrest in massive star cluster
By exploiting the exquisite image quality of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and comparing two observations made ten years apart astronomers have, for the first time, managed to measure the tiny motions of several hundred young stars within the central cluster of the star-forming region NGC 3603. The team was surprised to find that the stars are moving in ways that are at odds with the current understanding of how such clusters evolve. The stars in the cluster have not “settled down” as expected.
The core of the massive compact star cluster in NGC 3603
(NASA, ESA and Wolfgang Brandner (MPIA), Boyke Rochau (MPIA) and Andrea Stolte (University of Cologne))
Comparison of Hubble observations of the massive compact star cluster in NGC 3603 in 1997 and 2007
(NASA, ESA and Wolfgang Brandner (MPIA), Boyke Rochau (MPIA) and Andrea Stolte (University of Cologne))
The massive compact star cluster in NGC 3603 and its surroundings
(NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration)
Comparison of Hubble observations of the massive star cluster in NGC 3603 in 1997 and 2007 (video)
(NASA, ESA and Wolfgang Brandner (MPIA), Boyke Rochau (MPIA) and Andrea Stolte (University of Cologne))
Zooming in on the massive compact star cluster in NGC 3603 (video)
(NASA, ESA and Wolfgang Brandner (MPIA), Boyke Rochau (MPIA) and Andrea Stolte (University of Cologne))
(Acknowledgement: Robert Gendler, Martin Pugh, Astromania de Yave)