RSGC3
Sign in to saveRSGC3 (Red Supergiant Cluster 3) is a young massive open cluster belonging to the Milky Way galaxy. It was discovered in 2010 in the GLIMPSE survey data. The cluster is located in the constellation Scutum at the distance of about from the Sun. It is likely situated at the intersection of the northern end of the Long Bar of the Milky Way and the inner portion of the Scutum–Centaurus Arm—one of its two major spiral arms.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- open cluster
- Constellation
- Aquila
Show 3 more facts
- right ascension
- 281.3333
- declination
- -3.41194
- epoch
- J2000.0
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RSGC3 (Red Supergiant Cluster 3) is a young massive open cluster belonging to the Milky Way galaxy. It was discovered in 2010 in the GLIMPSE survey data. The cluster is located in the constellation Scutum at the distance of about from the Sun. It is likely situated at the intersection of the northern end of the Long Bar of the Milky Way and the inner portion of the Scutum–Centaurus Arm—one of its two major spiral arms.
The age of RSGC3 is estimated at 18–24 million years. The 16 detected red supergiant cluster members with masses of about are type II supernova progenitors. The cluster is heavily obscured and has not been detected in the visible light. It lies close to other groupings of red supergiants known as RSGC1, Stephenson 2, Alicante 7, Alicante 8, and Alicante 10. The total mass of RSGC3 is estimated at 20 thousand solar masses, which makes it one of the most massive open clusters in the Galaxy.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “RSGC3” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.