Caption

Open star cluster IC 2602. True-colour optical image of the open star cluster IC 2602 (far right) in the constellation Carina. Open clusters such as this one are believed to contain stars which all formed together from the same cloud of gas and dust. The bright blue star in the cluster is Theta Carinae. Starfields in this area are dense as the Milky Way runs through this part of the sky. This image was produced by digitally combining photographs taken by the UK Schmidt Telescope in blue and red light.