Open Star Clusters M35 & NGC 2158 of The Milky Way in Gemini

Open Star Clusters M35 & NGC 2158 of The Milky Way in Gemini

Framed in this single, starry, telescopic field of view are two open star clusters, M35 and NGC 2158. Located within the boundaries of the constellation Gemini, they do appear to be side by side. Its stars concentrated toward the upper right, M35 is relatively nearby, though. M35 (also cataloged as NGC 2168) is a mere 2,800 light-years distant, with four hundred or so stars spread out over a volume about thirty light-years across. Bright blue stars frequently distinguish younger open clusters like M35. Its age is estimated at 150 million years. At lower left, NGC 2158 is about four times more distant than M35 and much more compact, shining with the more yellowish light of a population of stars over 10 times older. In general, open star clusters are found along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Loosely gravitationally bound, their member stars tend to be dispersed over billions of years as the open star clusters orbit the galactic center.

Image Credit & Copyright: Evan Tsai, LATTE: Lulin-ASIAA Telescope

Evan's website: 

https://www.astrobin.com/users/mjrt/
Release Date: Feb. 27, 2025

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