A glowing star cluster dominates the center of this image. NGC 2002 is an open star cluster located about 160,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a companion galaxy to the Milky Way containing numerous star forming regions. NGC 2002 is about 30 light-years in diameter and is a relatively young cluster, 18 million years old.

The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC, SMC) are rich in young star clusters, making them ideal laboratories for studying star formation and evolution. In fact, the LMC and SMC are the only systems that contain star clusters at all stages of evolution and are close enough to Earth to be fully distinguishable, meaning individual stars can be seen and studied.

NGC 2002 is more spherical than a typical diffuse cluster, a type of star cluster that has an irregular shape due to its low stellar density and the weak mutual gravity of the stars that compose it. While stars in an open cluster are usually observable, stars in the other main type of cluster, the globular cluster, are often too dense to be seen even with powerful telescopes. To study NGC 2002, the researchers used the high resolution and sensitivity of the Hubble telescope to identify individual stars.

NGC 2002 contains about 1,100 stars. The more massive stars in the cluster tend to sink towards the centre, while the lighter stars move away from the center as the cluster develops. At the center of the cluster are five red supergiants, which are physically large but cooler stars that melt helium after depleting their hydrogen fuel.