Westerlund 1 [SEP] constellation
Westerlund 1
Westerlund 1 (abbreviated Wd1, sometimes called Ara Cluster) is a compact young super star cluster in the Milky Way galaxy, about 3.5–5 kpc away from Earth. It is one of the most massive young star clusters in the Milky Way, and was discovered by Bengt Westerlund in 1961 but remained largely unstudied for many years due to high interstellar absorption in its direction. In the future, it will probably evolve into a globular cluster.
The cluster contains a large number of rare, evolved, high-
with the brightest, Omega Centauri, having been known since antiquity and catalogued as a star before the telescopic age. The brightest globular cluster in the northern hemisphere is Messier 13 in the constellation of Hercules.
Globular cluster Super star cluster.
Super star clusters are very large regions of recent star formation, and are thought to be the precursors of globular clusters. Examples include Westerlund 1 in the Milky Way.
Open clusters.
Open clusters are very different from globular clusters. Unlike the spherically distributed globulars, they are