Where Stars Get Started
Let’s get back to talking about astronomy. During the recent “Around the World in 80 Telescopes” event for IYA, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory released this stunning image of the open star cluster NGC 6520 and the dust cloud Barnard 86. The wash of stars in the background is the Milky Way in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.
I like this picture because it shows two steps of star formation. The first is in that dark cloud named Barnard 86. It’s a Bok globule, one of those dusty, dark places that coalesce together to form stars. So, there could be stars forming inside that dust cloud.
See that little cloud of glittering stars right above Barnard 86? Those are bright young newborns that probably formed out of some part of Barnard 86. They’re the second step of star formation — the finished product. They look bluish, which is one clue that they’re young. And they really stand out against the reddish older stars in the Milky Way in that region. Go ahead and embiggen that image — it’s worth taking the time to explore!
Not unlike thousands of grains of sparkly sand. Makes me think of how the patterns in nature repeat themselves.