October 22, 2000
In the grand ledger of cosmic time, a human life is breathtakingly brief. But brevity is not insignificance.
Wild Duck Open Cluster M11
Birthday · October 22, 2000
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APOD published October 22, 2000. Credit: D. F. Malin, AAO. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Many stars like our Sun were formed in open clusters. The above open cluster, M11, contains thousands of stars and is just over three thousand light years distant. The stars in this cluster all formed together about 150 million years ago. The bright young stars in M11 appear blue. Open clusters, also called galactic clusters, contain fewer and younger stars than globular clusters. Also unlike globular clusters, open clusters are generally confined to the plane of our Galaxy. M11 is visible with binoculars towards the constellation of Scutum.
Image credit: D. F. Malin, AAO