NGC 362, Globular Star Cluster
The Galaxy Evolution Explorer's ultraviolet eyes have captured a globular star cluster, called NGC 362. In this image, the cluster appears next to stars from a more distant neighboring galaxy, known as the Small Magellanic Cloud. NGC 362, located 30,000 light-years away, can be spotted as the dense collection of mostly yellow-tinted stars surrounding a large white-yellow spot toward the top-right of this image. The white spot is actually the core of the cluster, which is made up of stars so closely packed together that the Galaxy Evolution Explorer cannot see them individually. The light blue dots surrounding the cluster core are called extreme horizontal branch stars. Blue dots scattered throughout the image are hot, young stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way located approximately 200,000 light-years away. The blue stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud are only about a few tens of millions of years old. This image is a false-color composite, where light detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer's far-ultraviolet detector is colored blue, and light from the telescope's near-ultraviolet detector is red.
Size: 3060px × 3468px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: 362, astronomical, astronomy, body, celestial, cloud, cluster, deep, dwarf, evolution, explorer, galaxy, galex, globular, heavenly, image, irregular, magellanic, mission, ngc, object, science, sky, small, smc, space, star, ultraviolet
