Alicante 7, also known as RSGC5, (''Red Supergiant Cluster 5'') is an
open cluster
An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, an ...
rich in
red supergiant
Red supergiants (RSGs) are stars with a supergiant luminosity class ( Yerkes class I) of spectral type K or M. They are the largest stars in the universe in terms of volume, although they are not the most massive or luminous. Betelgeuse and Ant ...
s found in the
Scutum-Crux Arm of the
Milky Way Galaxy
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...
, along with
RSGC1
RSGC1 (''Red Supergiant Cluster 1'') is a young massive open cluster in the Milky Way galaxy. It was discovered in 2006 in the data generated by several infrared surveys, named for the unprecedented number of red supergiant members. The cluster ...
,
Stephenson 2,
RSGC3
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 7 kp ...
,
Alicante 8, and
Alicante 10
Alicante 10, also known as RSGC6 (''Red Supergiant Cluster 6''), is a young massive open cluster belonging to the Milky Way galaxy. It was discovered in 2012 in the 2MASS survey data. Currently, eight red supergiants have been identified in thi ...
.
Alicante 7 contains 7 red supergiants, making it one of the most massive open clusters known.
Notes
References
Scutum (constellation)
Open clusters
Scutum–Centaurus Arm
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