Star Cluster Facts for Kids

16 Star Cluster Facts For Kids

1. A star cluster is a big group of stars that are bound together by gravity.
2. A star cluster can be made up of hundreds to millions of stars.
3. Star clusters are not galaxies, a star cluster is held together by its own gravity, while a galaxy is held together by gravity, dark matter, and a supermassive black hole.
4. A star cluster is formed from molecular clouds, which is a large interstellar region of gas.
5. There are two primary types of star clusters: globular clusters and open clusters.
6. Globular clusters contain tens of thousands to millions of stars and has a spherical shape with a very heavy concentration of stars in the center.
7. Some globular clusters are some of the oldest objects in the observable Universe.
8. There are more than 150 globular clusters in the Milky Way galaxy alone.
9. The first globular cluster to be discovered was Messier 22 (NGC 6656) by German amateur astronomer Johann Abraham Ihle on August 26th, 1665.
10. The oldest globular cluster in the Milky Way galaxy is the NGC 121 globular star cluster at 10 billion years old.
11. Open clusters contain hundreds to tens of thousands of stars that are loosely bound by gravity.
12. Open clusters can be affected by other objects in their parent galaxy, causing them to lose cluster members.
13. There are more than 1,100 known open clusters in the Milky Way galaxy alone.
14. Open clusters are last a few hundred million years, but some of the larger ones will survive a few billion years.
15. The oldest open cluster in the Milky Way galaxy is the NGC 6791 open star cluster at 8 billion years old.
16. A stellar association is a loose group of stars, usually 10 to 100, that aren’t open or globular clusters.

Star Cluster Pictures

Pictures are one of the best ways for people to learning about something. That is why we are providing you with the below images to help you with your research on star clusters. Below you will find three pictures that represent star clusters. These pictures should help you better understand star clusters and what they look like.

A picture of a star cluster in a nebula.

A picture of a star cluster in deep space.

A picture of a star cluster surrounded by stars.