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The Arches Cluster:
Star Factory Near Galactic Center Bathed In High-Energy X-Rays
This composite image shows an
envelope of 60-million-degree gas around a young
cluster of stars, known as the Arches cluster.
The Chandra data, shown as the diffuse blue emission in
the inset box, overlays a Hubble Space Telescope
infrared image of the same region, in which some of the
individual stars in the cluster can be seen as
point-like sources. Both the X-ray and infrared
observations are shown in context of the spectacular
filamentary structures that appear in radio wavelengths
displayed in red. Radio observations were obtained
using the Very Large Array (VLA) of radio
telescopes.
The Arches cluster contains about 150 hot, young stars
concentrated within a radius of about one light year,
making it the most compact cluster of stars in our
Galaxy. Many of these stars are 20 times as massive as
the Sun and live short, furious lives that last only a
few million years. During this period, gas evaporates
from these stars in the form of intense stellar winds.
The envelope of hot gas observed by Chandra is thought
to be due to collisions of the winds from numerous
stars.
Studies of the Arches cluster, located about 26,000
light years from Earth, can be used to learn more about
the environments of "starburst" galaxies millions of
light years away where this phenomenon may be occurring
on a much larger scale.
| Fast Facts for Arches Cluster: |
| Credit |
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Northwestern/F.Zadeh et al., IR: NASA/HST/NICMOS, Radio: NRAO/VLA/C.Lang |
| Scale |
Inset box of X-ray and IR (blue): 0.6 arcmin on a side. on each side. Background red radio: 8 arcmin across. by 9.6 arcmin top to bottom. |
| Category |
Normal Stars & Star Clusters, Milky Way Galaxy |
| Coordinates (J2000) |
RA 17h 46m 22s | Dec Dec -28° 51' 36.4 |
| Constellation |
Sagittarius |
| Observation Dates |
July 7, 2000
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| Observation Time |
14 hours |
| Instrument |
ACIS |
| Distance Estimate |
About 25,000 light years |
| Release Date |
June 06, 2001 |
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