NGC 6520 and Barnard 86 (DavidLJ)

Celestial hemisphere: Southern · Constellation: Sagittarius (Sgr) · Contains: NGC 6520

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NGC 6520 and Barnard 86

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NGC 6520 and Barnard 86

We live in the Orion arm of the Milky Way about one third the way from the centre of the galaxy to its outer edge. Another arm that runs closer to the centre (i.e. on an inside track) is the Sagittarius arm and this picture shows but a small part of that arm. There are so many stars there that we cannot see through them (that is in visible light) and they seem to provide a wash all over the image. But closer to us and therefore silhouetted against the backdrop of all those stars is a dark dense cloud of cold gas and dust called Barnard 86. Alongside it is an open cluster of very young hot blue stars that were likely born out of the dark cloud. Both the cluster and the dark cloud are about 7,000 light years from us. So we see them as they were back in 5,000 BC. The dark cloud is about 14 light years across and the cluster is about 13 light years. Since the nearest star to our Sun is 4 light years away, you can see that the stars in the cluster are fairly closely packed together. But as they age they will drift further and further apart until the cluster will eventually cease to exist.

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NGC 6520 and Barnard 86

NGC 6520 and Barnard 86

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NGC 6520 and Barnard 86

NGC 6520 and Barnard 86

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