(ORDO NEWS) — Astronomers photographed the star cluster NGC 376.
This cluster (or cluster) is located outside the Milky Way in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy. It is removed from our galaxy by 200 thousand light years, which is relatively close by galactic standards.
Despite being a dwarf galaxy, it contains hundreds of millions of stars, and its observational features make it a treasure trove for astronomers.
“Because the Small Magellanic Cloud is so close and glows so brightly, it makes it possible to study phenomena that are difficult to study in more distant galaxies,” NASA experts explain.
This also applies to NGC 376, thanks to which scientists can observe star clusters of this type from the outside.
Despite the distance, the telescope makes it possible to distinguish almost every single star, since NGC 376 belongs to open clusters, in which the stars are not as closely connected as in globular ones.
The total mass of the cluster is 3400 times the mass of the Sun.
Analyzing the structure of this cluster will help astronomers answer fundamental questions about star formation.
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