Trumpler 14 (''Tr 14'') is an
open cluster
An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of tens to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and ...
with a diameter of , located within the inner regions of the
Carina Nebula
The Carina Nebula or Eta Carinae Nebula (catalogued as NGC 3372; also known as the Great Carina Nebula) is a large, complex area of bright and dark nebulosity in the constellation Carina, located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky W ...
, approximately from Earth.
Together with the nearby
Trumpler 16
Trumpler 16 (''Tr 16'') is a massive open cluster that is home to some of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way galaxy. It is situated within the Carina Nebula complex in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm, located approximately from Earth. The cl ...
, they are the main clusters of the
Carina OB1
Carina OB1 is a giant Stellar kinematics#OB associations, OB association in the Carina Nebula, which is home to some of the most massive and luminous stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. It includes the young star clusters Collinder 228, NGC 3293, N ...
stellar association, which is the largest association in the Carina Nebula, although Trumpler 14 is not as massive or as large as Trumpler 16.
About stars have been identified in Trumpler 14
[
] and the total mass of the cluster is estimated to be 4,300
.
Age
It is one of the youngest known star clusters, estimates range from 300 to 500 thousand years old.
For comparison, the massive
super star cluster
A super star cluster (SSC) is a very massive young open cluster that is thought to be the precursor of a globular cluster.
These clusters called "super" because they are relatively more luminous and contain more mass than other young star clusters ...
R136
R136 (formerly known as RMC 136 from the Radcliffe Observatory Magellanic Clouds catalogue) is the central concentration of stars in the NGC 2070 star cluster, which lies at the centre of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. W ...
is about 1 to 2 million years old,
and the famous
Pleiades
The Pleiades (), also known as Seven Sisters and Messier 45 (M45), is an Asterism (astronomy), asterism of an open cluster, open star cluster containing young Stellar classification#Class B, B-type stars in the northwest of the constellation Tau ...
is about 115 million years old.
Members
Due to its location within the inner parts of the Carina Nebula, Trumpler 14 is currently undergoing massive star formation. As a result, the star cluster exhibits many stars of late O to early A spectral type, which are very massive (at least 10 solar masses), short-lived and hot (). The brightest member is
HD 93129, a triple system consisting of three individual class O stars.
It also contains
HD 93128, an O3.5 V((fc))z star, an extremely hot and young main sequence star.
Future
In a few million years, as its stars die, it will trigger the formation of metal-rich stars, and in a few hundred million years Trumpler 14 will probably dissipate.
Gallery
File:Carina Nebula.jpg, Image of the Carina OB1
Carina OB1 is a giant Stellar kinematics#OB associations, OB association in the Carina Nebula, which is home to some of the most massive and luminous stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. It includes the young star clusters Collinder 228, NGC 3293, N ...
association. Trumpler 14 is the massive cluster of stars at the upper right of center.
File:ESO-Trumpler14-cluster.jpg, Trumpler 14 as seen by the Multi-conjugate Adaptive optics Demonstrator (MAD) mounted on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). Image is based on a combination of K and H filters. Field of view is about two arcminutes across.
See also
*
List of most massive stars
This is a list of the most massive stars that have been discovered, in solar mass units ().
Uncertainties and caveats
Most of the masses listed below are contested and, being the subject of current research, remain under review and subject to con ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trumpler 14
Carina Nebula
Open clusters
Carina (constellation)
Trumpler catalog
Star-forming regions