Star Colours
Colour Variation in Stars at the Galactic Center
This image has been cropped from a larger image taken in infrared light by the Hubble Space Telescope's NICMOS camera. It penetrates 25,000 light-years of obscuring dust. Taken in September 1997, it provided the clearest view of stars at the galactic centre seen till then.
This is the Quintuplet Cluster, a tightly packed set of stars tbat formed from a gas cloud 4 million years ago. Some of these stars are on the verge of exploding as supernovae. The Pistol Star, the most luminous star in the galaxy, belongs to this cluster.
The colors represent infrared wavelengths which can't be seen directly. Galactic center stars appear white. The red stars are enshrouded in thick dust. The blue stars are in the foreground between us and the Milky Way's center.
The cluster is hidden from direct view by the dust of Sagittarius. If the cluster could be seen by eye, it would appear to be single 3rd magnitude "star".
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Image Credit: Don Figer (Space Telescope Science Institute) and NASA. See STSCI Press Release 1999 30 for details.