2012 October 24
NGC 206 and the Star Clouds of Andromeda
Image Credit & Copyright: Bob and Janice Fera (Fera Photography)
Image Credit & Copyright: Bob and Janice Fera (Fera Photography)
Explanation: The large stellar association cataloged as NGC 206 is nestled within the dusty arms of neighboring
spiral galaxy Andromeda
(M31), 2.5 million light-years distant. Seen near the center of this gorgeous
close-up of the southwestern extent of
Andromeda's disk, the bright, blue stars of NGC 206
indicate its youth. Its youngest massive stars are less than 10 million years
old. Much larger than the clusters of young stars in the
disk of our Milky Way galaxy known as open or galactic clusters, NGC 206 spans about 4,000
light-years. That's comparable in size to the giant stellar nurseries NGC 604 in nearby spiral M33 and the Tarantula
Nebula, in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
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