The star cluster Messier 18 and its surroundings. Credit: ESO
The small smattering of bright blue stars in the upper left of this vast new 615 megapixel ESO image is the perfect cosmic laboratory in which to study the life and death of stars. Known as Messier 18 this star cluster contains stars that formed together from the same massive cloud of gas and dust. This image, which also features red clouds of glowing hydrogen and dark filaments of dust, was captured by the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.
Messier 18 was discovered and catalogued in 1764 by Charles Messier during his search for comet-like objects...
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