AAO image reference AAT 90. « Previous || Next »
Top left is NE. Image width is about 11 arc min
Image and text © 1993-2002, Anglo-Australian Observatory, photograph by David Malin.
Clusters of bright blue stars like M11 are found scattered among the spiral arms of the Milky Way and other galaxies like it. They are a clear sign that star formation is active, because such clusters are usually very young and short lived. The stars in M11 all formed from the same material and at about the same time, a few million years ago. In 100 million years or so, all the brightest stars in the group will have evolved into cool supergiants and exploded as supernovae, leaving behind large numbers of low mass, relatively faint stars whose lives will be much longer and whose end will be much less dramatic.
Entry from NGC 2000.0 (R.W. Sinnott, Ed.) © Sky Publishing Corporation, 1988:
NGC 6705 OC 18 51.1 -06 16 s Sct 14. 5.8 !, Cl, vB, L, iR, Ri, *9, st 11...; = M11For details of photographic exposure, search technical table by AAT reference number.