NGC346 is a young star cluster in the Small Magellanic Clouds with an estimated 2,500 stars. It’s about 200,000 light years away and this image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope reveals a beautiful region of star formation. The bright blue stars are many times more massive than the Sun and will live short lives ending in spectacular supernova explosions. The image helps us to understand the stellar formation process in a galaxy that has fewer metals than our own Galaxy.
Image of NGC 346 with a 30 arcminute wide field of view showing the wispy nebular structure around it (Credit : European Southern Observatory)
The Small Magellanic Cloud that plays host to NGC346 is a dwarf irregular galaxy approximately 200,000 light-years from Earth, making it one of the Milky Way’s nearest galactic neighbours. It’s visible primarily from the southern hemisphere as a faint, hazy patch (appearing much like the Milky Way) spanning about 7,000 light-years across. Thought to contains several billion stars it is dwarfed by our own Galaxy that has an estimated 200-400 billion stars.
.jpg)
The two-color image shows an overview of the full Small Magellanic Cloud and was composed from two images from the Digitized Sky Survey 2. N66 with the open star cluster NGC 346 is the largest of the star-forming regions seen below the centre (Credit : ESA/Hubble and Digitized Sky Survey 2)
Also visible in the image is N66, also known as DEM S 103, is a stunning emission nebula and one of the largest and most active star forming regions in the Small Magellanic Cloud. It measures approximately 300 light years across and is visible because the its gas is energised by the radiation from the NGC 346. The intense stellar winds and ultraviolet radiation from these hot stars sculpt the surrounding hydrogen gas clouds, causing them to glow with a reddish/pink hue characteristic of ionized hydrogen. The relatively low metal content of N66 makes it a fabulous cosmic laboratory to study how stars formed in the early universe when heavier elements were scarce.
The European Space Agency’s celebration of Hubble’s 35th anniversary includes a series of newly processed images of previously released targets, showcasing scenes in breathtaking quality. NGC 346 is just one of them but thanks to Hubble’s exceptional sensitivity and resolution, it reveals key insights into the stellar formation process. By analyzing observations taken 11 years apart, scientists discovered that stars within NGC 346 follow a spiralling motion toward the cluster’s center, a phenomenon thought to be driven by external gas streams that fuel stellar birth within the turbulent cloud’s core.
The Hubble Space Telescope (Credit : ESA)
The images are a fitting tribute to the space that was launched in April 1990 and has dramatically exceeded its expected 15 year operational lifespan by continuing to function for over 35 years. The operation of the telescope has been far from plain sailing though with optical issues discovered after its launch and five critical servicing missions where astronauts have replaced ageing components, installed new instruments, and performed crucial repairs. Despite facing numerous technical challenges Hubble has continued to deliver groundbreaking discoveries time and time again.
Source : Hubble spots stellar sculptors at work in a nearby galaxy