A Sparkly Cluster of Stars Is Younger than It First Looks  The
entire universe in blog form Jan. 31 2013 12:26 PM  A Sparkling
Imposter  Hubble picture of the star cluster NGC 411 Hubble
photo of the odd but beautiful star cluster NGC 411. Click to
embiggen.  Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA  I love star
clusters. They’re crucial to our understanding of the way stars
form, live, and die—stars change as they age, making it hard to
compare one to another if they are vastly different ages. But
the stars in a cluster are all born at the same time, so that
makes it a lot easier to understand their behavior. It’s like
having them in a lab for study.  Phil Plait Phil Plait   There
are two kinds of clusters: globular clusters (old, roughly
spherical, and densely packed), and open clusters (younger,
shapeless, and with stars scattered throughout). I’ve seen both
kinds many, many times in photos as well as with my own eyes;
they’re a favorite target of mine when I’m using a small
telescope.   Which is why this Hubble pi