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Rolf's Astrophotography
  • An Astrophotography Journey!
  • Clusters
    • Globular Clusters
      • M13 – Hercules Cluster
    • Open Clusters
      • M45 – The Pleiades
  • Galaxies
    • Elliptical Galaxies
      • Markarian’s Chain with M84, M86, and M87
    • Irregular Galaxies
    • Spiral Galaxies
      • M31 – Andromeda Galaxy
      • M33 – Triangulum Galaxy
      • M51 – Whirlpool Galaxy
      • M64 – Black Eye Galaxy
      • M81 – Bodes Galaxy
      • NGC 4565 (C38) – Needle Galaxy
  • Nebulas
    • Dark Nebulas
      • IC 434 – Horsehead Nebula
    • Emission Nebulas
      • IC 1805 – Heart Nebula
      • IC 1848 – Soul Nebula
      • IC 405 – Flaming Star Nebula
      • M42 – Orion Nebula
      • NGC 2237 – Rosette Nebula
      • NGC 6888 – Crescent Nebula
      • NGC 7000 – North America Nebula
      • Sadr and the Gamma Cygni Nebula (IC 1318)
    • Planetary Nebulas
      • M27 – Dumbbell Nebula
      • M57 – Ring Nebula
    • Reflection Nebulas
      • M78
      • NGC 7023 – Iris Nebula
    • Supernova Remnants
      • M1 – Crab Nebula
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Rolf's Astrophotography

Open Clusters

M45, Pleiades
M45, The Pleiades

An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of tens to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and many more are thought to exist. They are loosely bound by mutual gravitational attraction and become disrupted by close encounters with other clusters and clouds of gas as they orbit the Galactic Center. This can result in a loss of cluster members through internal close encounters and a dispersion into the main body of the galaxy. Open clusters generally survive for a few hundred million years, with the most massive ones surviving for a few billion years. In contrast, the more massive globular clusters of stars exert a stronger gravitational attraction on their members, and can survive for longer. Open clusters have been found only in spiral and irregular galaxies, in which active star formation is occurring.

M45, Pleiades

M45, The Pleiades

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