M11: The Wild Duck Cluster Many stars like our Sun were formed
in open clusters. The above pictured open cluster, M11, contains
thousands of stars and is just over five thousand light years
distant. The stars in this cluster all formed together about 250
million years ago. The bright young stars in M11 appear blue.
Open clusters, also called galactic clusters, contain fewer and
younger stars than globular clusters. Also unlike globular
clusters, open clusters are generally confined to the plane of
our Galaxy. M11 is visible with binoculars towards the
constellation of Scutum.