Photo credit: science.nasa.gov

ESA Celebrates Hubble’s Legacy with New Insights on Star Cluster NGC 346

In honor of ESA/Hubble’s 35th anniversary, the European Space Agency (ESA) has unveiled a captivating new image series that revisits previously photographed celestial objects. This fresh installment incorporates the latest data from the Hubble Space Telescope alongside advanced processing techniques.

The latest image features the vibrant young star cluster NGC 346. While both the James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble have previously documented NGC 346, this image offers an enhanced perspective. It stands out as the first to integrate Hubble’s observations across infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths, creating an intricately detailed portrayal of this dynamic star-forming region.

Located in the Small Magellanic Cloud—a nearby satellite galaxy to the Milky Way at a distance of about 200,000 light-years in the constellation Tucana—NGC 346 showcases over 2,500 nascent stars. The most massive of these stars emit a striking blue light, creating a stunning contrast with the surrounding glowing pink nebula and the dark, serpentine clouds shaped by the stellar activity.

Hubble’s exceptional sensitivity and resolution have played a critical role in uncovering the dynamics of star formation within NGC 346. Researchers utilized two sets of observation data collected 11 years apart, tracking the movement of stars within the cluster. This analysis revealed that the stars are spiraling inward toward the cluster’s center, influenced by a stream of gas flowing from outside, which bolsters the ongoing star formation in this chaotic environment.

The stars within NGC 346 act as cosmic sculptors, carving out a bubble in the surrounding nebula. These massive, hot stars produce intense radiation and powerful stellar winds, which dramatically affect the gas in their vicinity, dispersing it throughout the surrounding area.

Named N66, the nebula surrounding NGC 346 is recognized as the brightest example of an H II region within the Small Magellanic Cloud. H II regions, illuminated by the ultraviolet light from energetic young stars, signify the youth of star clusters. Since the duration that an H II region glows is directly tied to the lifespan of the massive stars at its heart—typically only a few million years—the presence of N66 underscores the youthful nature of NGC 346’s stellar assembly.

Having operated for more than thirty years, the Hubble Space Telescope continues to yield groundbreaking discoveries that advance our understanding of the cosmos. This indelible scientific achievement is a result of international collaboration between NASA and the ESA, with the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland managing operations and support from Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. Additionally, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, run by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, oversees the scientific operations of Hubble for NASA.

Source
science.nasa.gov