Nestled within the dusty arms of the large spiral galaxy Andromeda [
http://www.seds.org…] (M31), the star cluster NGC 206 is one of the largest star forming regions known in our local group of galaxies. The beautiful bright blue stars of NGC 206 [
http://www.fera.com…] betray its youth - but close, systematic studies of variable stars [
http://redfrog.norc…] in and around NGC 206 will also accurately reveal its distance. Astronomers are searching [
http://xxx.lanl.gov…] for variable stars in NGC 206, particularly pulsating stars known as Cepheids [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and eclipsing binary star [
http://astrosun.tn.…] systems. Distances for these types of stars can be effectively determined by following the periodic changes [
http://www.pbs.org/…] in their brightness and spectra. About 3 million light-years away, an accurately known distance to NGC 206 and thus M31 [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is critical to the larger understanding of galaxy formation, galaxy evolution, and ultimately the distance scale of the Universe [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Explanation
Nestled within the dusty arms of the large spiral galaxy Andromeda [
http://www.seds.org…] (M31), the star cluster NGC 206 is one of the largest star forming regions known in our local group of galaxies. The beautiful bright blue stars of NGC 206 [
http://www.fera.com…] betray its youth - but close, systematic studies of variable stars [
http://redfrog.norc…] in and around NGC 206 will also accurately reveal its distance. Astronomers are searching [
http://xxx.lanl.gov…] for variable stars in NGC 206, particularly pulsating stars known as Cepheids [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and eclipsing binary star [
http://astrosun.tn.…] systems. Distances for these types of stars can be effectively determined by following the periodic changes [
http://www.pbs.org/…] in their brightness and spectra. About 3 million light-years away, an accurately known distance to NGC 206 and thus M31 [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is critical to the larger understanding of galaxy formation, galaxy evolution, and ultimately the distance scale of the Universe [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Explanation
