Wide Field Imager image of Westerlund 1 (annotated)

This image of the young star cluster Westerlund 1 was taken with the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. This remarkable cluster contains hundreds of very massive stars, some shining with a brilliance of almost one million suns. Although most stars in the cluster are hot blue supergiants, they appear reddish in this image as they are seen through interstellar dust and gas. European astronomers have for the first time demonstrated that the magnetar — an unusual type of neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field — that lies in the cluster was formed from a star with at least 40 times as much mass as the Sun. The result presents great challenges to current theories of how stars evolve, as a star as massive as this was expected to become a black hole, not a magnetar.

Herkunftsnachweis:

ESO

Über das Bild

ID:eso1034b
Typ:Beobachtung
Veröffentlichungsdatum:18. August 2010 12:00
Dazugehörige Veröffentlichungen:eso1034
Größe:1261 x 1261 px

Über das Objekt

Name:Westerlund 1
Typ:Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster
Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Neutron Star : Magnetar
Entfernung:15000 Lichtjahre
Constellation:Ara
Kategorie:Star Clusters

Bildformate

Großes JPEG
424,6 KB

Skalierbar


Bildschirm-Hintergrundbilder

1024x768
233,1 KB
1280x1024
342,5 KB
1600x1200
477,4 KB
1920x1200
559,0 KB
2048x1536
734,0 KB

Koordinaten

Position (RA):16 47 4.02
Position (Dec):-45° 51' 5.46"
Field of view:5.00 x 5.00 arcminutes
Orientierung:Die Nordrichtung liegt 0.1° rechts zur Vertikale

Farben & Filter

SpektralbereichTeleskop
Optisch
B
MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
WFI
Optisch
V
MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
WFI
Optisch
R
MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
WFI