Flying through the young star cluster Westerlund 1 (artist's impression)
Loading player...
In this video we fly through the young star cluster Westerlund 1 and close in on the strange magnetar that lies within it. This remarkable cluster contains hundreds of very massive stars, some shining with a brilliance of almost one million suns. European astronomers have for the first time demonstrated that the magnetar — an unusual type of neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field — was formed from a star with at least 40 times as much mass as the Sun.
Credit:
ESO/L. Calçada
About the Video
| Id: | eso1034a |
| Release date: | 18 August 2010, 12:00 |
| Related releases: | eso1034 |
| Duration: | 30s |
About the Object
| Name: | Westerlund 1 |
| Type: | • X - Star Clusters |
