2 min read

Exploring the Night Sky with Hubble’s Caldwell Catalog

C100-1
Caldwell 100 (also called Collinder 249) is a loose collection of stars, known as an open cluster, that’s embedded within a large nebula (named IC 2944) about 6,000 light-years away from Earth. The reddish glow of hydrogen gas surrounding the cluster is typical of emission nebulae found in massive star-forming regions. This Hubble image, taken in visible light using the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, shows a small portion of this region.
NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: Bo Reipurth (University of Hawaii)

During the 18th century, French astronomer Charles Messier compiled a list of over 100 cosmic objects that might fool fellow comet hunters into thinking they had discovered new comets. In the 1980s, an Englishman named Sir Patrick Moore produced an additional list to highlight more cosmic wonders visible to amateur astronomers. Unlike the Messier catalog, which only features objects that were visible from Charles Messier’s viewing location in Europe, Moore’s Caldwell catalog includes celestial bodies that are found in both the northern and southern skies. The catalog consists of 46 star clusters, 35 galaxies and 28 nebulas. Moore intentionally avoided including any of the Messier objects in his catalog, hoping to expand his fellow amateur astronomers’ cosmic horizons. From nearby clouds of gas and dust that are left over from dying stars to remote galaxies that formed billions of years ago, the Caldwell catalog is brimming with surprising celestial treats.

This loose collections of stars, known as an open star cluster, is image 100 of the catalog. Caldwell 100 (also called Collinder 249) is an open star cluster that’s embedded within a large nebula (named IC 2944) about 6,000 light-years away from Earth. The reddish glow of hydrogen gas surrounding the cluster is typical of emission nebulas found in massive star-forming regions. This Hubble image, taken in visible light using the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, shows a small portion of this region.

Claire Andreoli
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-1940
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Share

Details

Last Updated
Oct 04, 2023
Editor
NASA Hubble Mission Team
Contact
NASA Hubble Mission Team

Related Terms

Explore More

A close-up of a spiral galaxy, seen face-on. Its center is a bright white point, surrounded by a large yellowish oval with thin lines of dust swirling in it. From the sides of the oval emerge two bright spiral arms which wind through the round disk of the galaxy, filled with shining pink spots where stars are forming and more dark reddish dust. Many stars are visible in the foreground, over and around the galaxy.
2 min read

Hubble Images a Grand Spiral

Article1 day ago
4 min read

NASA Successfully Integrates Roman Mission’s Telescope, Instruments

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has successfully integrated the mission’s telescope and two instruments onto the instrument carrier, marking the completion of the Roman payload. Now the team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will begin joining the payload to the spacecraft. “We’re in the middle of an exciting stage […]

Article2 days ago
A montage of Hubble Space Telescope images of our solar system's four giant outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, taken under the OPAL (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy) program over 10 years, from 2014 to 2024.
8 min read

NASA’s Hubble Celebrates Decade of Tracking Outer Planets

Article5 days ago
Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

James Webb Space Telescope

The image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. The smallest of these are small, distant, and faint points of light. The largest of these appear larger, closer, brighter, and more fully resolved with 8-point diffraction spikes. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The stars vary in color, the majority of which have a blue or orange hue. The cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys – an appearance very similar to a mountain range. Three long diffraction spikes from the top right edge of the image suggest the presence of a large star just out of view.

Perseverance Rover

Parker Solar Probe

Juno