The Wild Duck Cluster, M11, is one of the richest and most compact open clusters known, a dense swarm of stars in front of the bright Scutum Star Cloud.
At a glance
| type | open star cluster |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 7,280 light-years (2.23 kpc) |
| its light left it | 7,280 years ago |
| size in the piece | about 16 light-years acrossmodel |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with. Model marks a property of the piece’s galaxy model rather than a measurement.
About Wild Duck (M11)
M11 is an open cluster in the small constellation Scutum, seen against one of the brightest patches of the summer Milky Way. Gottfried Kirch found it, and William Henry Smyth named it: its brightest stars form a V like a flight of wild ducks. Few open clusters hold as many stars in so small a volume, and in a telescope it can look almost like a loose globular cluster.
It is a middle-aged cluster, old enough that its most massive stars have already evolved into red giants, which show as orange points among the many white and yellow stars. Because so many stars share its age and distance, it is a favourite test bed for models of how stars and clusters evolve.
What you see in the piece
In the piece it is a dense ball of stars coloured by temperature, with a few warm giants, set in the direction of the inner galaxy where dust thickens towards the centre.
Questions
Why is M11 called the Wild Duck Cluster?
Its brightest stars form a V shape that reminded William Henry Smyth of a flight of wild ducks.
How far away is the Wild Duck Cluster?
The Wild Duck Cluster is 7,280 light-years (2.23 kpc) from the Sun.