Dazzling diamond-like stars perfect visual treat

Image courtesy: NASA, ESA, and J. Maíz Apellániz (Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, Spain)

New York: NASA's Hubble space telescope has captured a glittering star cluster that resembles an opulent diamond tapestry, containing a collection of some of the brightest stars seen in our Milky Way galaxy.

Called "Trumpler 14", it is located 8,000 light-years away in the Carina Nebula, a huge star-formation region.

Because the cluster is only 500,000 years old, it has one of the highest concentration of massive, luminous stars in the entire Milky Way.

These blue-white stars are burning their hydrogen fuel so ferociously that they will explode as supernova in a few million years, the US space agency said in a statement.

The combination of outflowing stellar "winds" and, ultimately, supernova blast waves will carve out cavities in nearby clouds of gas and dust.

These fireworks will kick-start the beginning of a new generation of stars in an ongoing cycle of star birth and death.