(ORDO NEWS) — In the upper left corner of this image is the globular cluster NGC 2031. This dense group of thousands of stars is held together in a spherical shape by mutual gravitational attraction.
The cluster is located in the constellation Table Mountain in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way.
NGC 2031 contains a significant population of Cepheid variable stars (at least 14) that periodically become brighter and dimmer.
The period between brightness peaks, combined with brightness measurements and some observations made from Earth, allows astronomers to determine the distance from us to the star.
Using these measurements, scientists estimate the distance to NGC 2031 at about 150,000 light-years.
The cluster NGC 2031 is located in an extremely dense and stellar region of the LMC. Its location in this densely populated area results in “stellar pollution,” a phenomenon in which the atmospheres and surface features of nearby stars affect the measurements of objects under study.
Stellar pollution is one theory that could explain the sighting of bright blue stars at the center of the cluster. Stars like these are usually very hot and have short lifespans, but globular clusters are known for containing only ancient stars.
Another theory is that these bright blue stars are actually blue stragglers (blue stragglers). These stars form later than their neighbors, allowing astronomers to observe them in older globular clusters such as NGC 2031.
Blue stragglers are thought to form from the merger of two old red stars, resulting in a star with more mass and blue colors.
This theory was developed with the help of Hubble during the study of images of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae.
The age of NGC 2031 is estimated at 140 million years, and its mass is more than 3000 times that of the Sun. Astronomers have studied this cluster using Hubble’s ultraviolet capabilities.
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