Hubble Weighs in on the Heaviest Stars in the Galaxy

ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

These images of the Arches cluster, taken by three different telescopes, reveal progressively more detail in the tightly packed collection of about 2,000 stars. The Arches is the densest star cluster in our Milky Way Galaxy and resides in our galaxy's crowded core.

Astronomers used the image at right, taken with Hubble's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer, to determine if stars in the cluster have a weight limit at birth. Hubble's infrared camera is well suited to analyze the cluster because it penetrates the dusty core of our galaxy and produces sharp images, allowing the telescope to see individual stars in a tightly packed grouping.

Object Name: Arches CLuster

Image Type: Astronomical

Credit: [Left] - NASA, ESA, D. Figer (STScI); [Middle] - G. Serabyn (JPL), D. Shupe (Caltech) and D. Figer (STScI); [Right] - NASA, ESA and D. Figer (STScI)

NEWS RELEASE IMAGES

The above montage includes these images:

Arches Cluster: Lick 3m (1994) Image Type: Astronomical Arches Cluster: Keck I 10m (1996) Image Type: Astronomical The Milky Way's Densest Star Cluster: The Arches Cluster Image Type: Astronomical

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