Sunny Priyan
NGC 2002 is an open star cluster about 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way rich in star-forming regions.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Gilmore
NGC 2002 is about 30 light-years in diameter and is a relatively young cluster at 18 million years old.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Gilmore
The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC, SMC) are rich in young star clusters, making them ideal laboratories for studying stellar formation and evolution.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Gilmore
NGC 2002 is more spherical than typical open clusters, which usually have low star density and irregular shapes due to weak gravitational attraction among their stars.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Gilmore
NGC 2002 contains about 1,100 stars, with massive stars sinking toward the center and lighter stars moving outward as the cluster evolves.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Gilmore
Visible in the center of the cluster are five red supergiants; physically massive but cooler stars that are fusing helium after exhausting their hydrogen fuel.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Gilmore