Westerlund 2 facts for kids
Westerlund 2 is a huge group of very young stars. It's only about one or two million years old, which is very young for a star cluster! This cluster is partly hidden by gas and dust. It contains some of the hottest, brightest, and biggest stars we know about. Westerlund 2 is really far away, about 20,000 light years from us, located in our home galaxy, the Milky Way.
Stars in Westerlund 2
This amazing cluster has about twelve very hot, bright stars called O-type stars. At least three of these are "eclipsing binaries." This means they are two stars orbiting each other, and sometimes one star passes in front of the other, blocking its light.
The cluster also has many even younger stars that are still forming. Plus, there are two special, very hot stars called Wolf–Rayet stars.
In the middle of the cluster, there are several rare and super hot stars. Just outside the cluster, there's another huge star system called WR20a. It's an eclipsing binary, meaning its two stars block each other's light as they orbit. You can see it as a bright yellow spot a bit to the lower right of the cluster's center.
Discovery of Westerlund 2
A scientist named Bengt Westerlund found this cluster in the 1960s. But it took many more years for astronomers to figure out exactly what kinds of stars were inside it.
Images for kids
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Westerlund 2 surrounded by stellar nursery RCW 49
See also
In Spanish: Westerlund 2 para niños
