a-aou97-00001← Collection
images
Open cluster Trumpler 5 in Monoceros
- Reference
- a-aou97-00001
- Date
- 2006-09-16
As they age, open clusters of stars begin to lose their identity. This is partly because the brighter members tend to self-destruct as supernovae, and, though the group members share a common motion through space, they are only loosely bound. Thus stars drift away from the cluster in a process that accelerates with time. However, some clusters are big enough to retain their identity much longer than usual, and Trumpler 5 is one such. Its age is estimated to be 125 million years, and it must have been a spectacular sight in its youth. It seems to be at the edge of the Monoceros molecular cloud, where star formation is continuing new generations of young clusters.