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   CHRS: LATIN-1 2   
                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our   
         fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation   
                       written by a professional astronomer.   
      
                                    2024 July 2   
       A star cluster is shown in and around a gas cloud that looks like an   
       oyster. The rollover image shows the same cluster not only in visible   
      light, but X-ray and infrared too. Please see the explanation for more   
                               detailed information.   
      
                           NGC 602: Oyster Star Cluster   
       Image Credit: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al;   
         Optical: Hubble: NASA/STScI; Infrared: Spitzer: NASA/JPL-Caltech   
      
      Explanation: The clouds may look like an oyster, and the stars like   
      pearls, but look beyond. Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic   
      Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies   
      this 5 million year old star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by its birth   
      shell of gas and dust, star cluster NGC 602 is featured in this   
      stunning Hubble image, augmented in a rollover by images in the X-ray   
      by the Chandra Observatory and in the infrared by Spitzer Telescope.   
      Fantastic ridges and swept back gas strongly suggest that energetic   
      radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have   
      eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation   
      moving away from the star cluster's center. At the estimated distance   
      of the Small Magellanic Cloud, the featured picture spans about 200   
      light-years, but a tantalizing assortment of background galaxies are   
      also visible in this sharp view. The background galaxies are hundreds   
      of millions of light-years -- or more -- beyond NGC 602.   
      
                          Tomorrow's picture: open space   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.   
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                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
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