Why do stars in a cluster all seem to be about the same age?
Quick Answer
Star clusters usually form from the same cloud of gas over a relatively short period of time. That gives the stars a similar age and chemical makeup.
The Full Story
Open clusters and globular clusters are built from stars that formed in the same general episode of star birth. Because the stars came from one cloud, they often share a similar age and initial composition. This makes clusters extremely useful to astronomers, since they provide natural laboratories for testing stellar evolution. In an open cluster, stars are loosely bound and may drift apart over time, while globular clusters are ancient, dense systems. Some globular clusters are more than 10 billion years old.
Key Facts
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"Why are star clusters like cosmic family photos?"
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