Hubble Hones In on Super Star Cluster , Home of a Hypergiant

I remember reading about the Hypergiant star ,Westerlund 1-26, and being absolutely mindboggled at the shear size of it , if placed where our Sun is it would extend out as far as Jupiter , 1,500 times the radius of our Sun ...staggering.

Now NASA has released this beautiful Hubble image of Westerlund 1 ,the Star cluster that Westerlund 1-26 calls home along with all its brother ans sister super stars.

Most of Westerlund 1’s stars are thought to have formed in the same burst of activity, meaning that they have similar ages and compositions. The cluster is relatively young in astronomical terms —at around three million years old it is a baby compared to our own sun, which is some 4.6 billion years old.
www.nasa.gov...

Like diamonds on black velvet.

a reply to: gortex

1500 time the radius of the sun - awesome!!!! For some reason posts like this always remind me of this great YT video:

Thanks, this is a great thread! I love this stuff.

a reply to: gortex


Simply awesome. I'm going to need some kind deboggler before work tomorrow. If I go in cross-eyed with drool hanging off my lip, they'll know I was up late reading this very thread. Standard reaction.

A dazzling image! It's a good candidate for "one eye" 3D effect, try it out: www.abovetopsecret.com...

Basically, looking at a photo with just one eye may create the sense of depth.