NASA has released acomposite image of the star cluster Trumpler 14, compiled from datacollected by the Hubble Space Telescope between 2005 - 2006. The clusteris located roughly 8,000 light-years from Earth in the Carina nebula.
Whilst the cluster isonly estimated to be 500,000 years old, a number of the stellarbodies contained in the image are burning up their supply of hydrogenat such an alarming rate that they are expected to go supernova inthe space of a few million years – the blink of an eye in cosmologicalterms.
When this occurs, theresultant shock waves from the explosions will carve out vast cavitiesin the clouds of dust and gas that permeate the region. Disturbingthe material in this manner will provide the catalyst needed to kickstart the process of creating the next generation of stars.
Last year, Hubblecelebrated its 25th year of life in low-Earth orbit,during which time the venerated telescope has granted us countlessinsights into the majestic nature of our universe.
Source: NASA