ESO Captures Spectacular Image of Open Cluster Messier 47

The ESO Cosmic Gems program is coming out with some spectacular images. And it's not all that surprising that Messier 47 is the target of one of these images. This open cluster sports bright, hot blue stars that shine against the backdrop of space.

Messier 47 is located about 1,600 light-years away from Earth. It was first spotted before 1654 by an Italian astronomer. Later, though, it was independently discovered by Charles Messier, who then named it after himself.

The open cluster is actually one of the least densely populated, and only about 50 stars are visible in a region that's about 12 light-years across. In contrast, similar objects can contain thousands of stars.

Within this open cluster, you can see bright, blue-white stars. This color is actually an indication of the stars' temperature; hotter stars appear bluer while cooler stars appear redder. The few red stars in the new image are red giant stars that are further along in their short life cycles than the less massive and longer-lived blue stars.

In fact, the lifetime of a star depends primarily on its mass. Massive stars that contain many times as much material as the sun, for example, have short lives that are measured in mere millions of years. Yet much massive stars can continue to shine for many billions of years. In a cluster, the stars are all around the same age with the same initial chemical composition; this means that brilliant massive stars evolve the quickest and become red giants sooner.

Want to see more spectacular images? You can check them out on ESO's website.

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