The Jewel Box Cluster

About This Photograph

The lovely Jewel Box cluster lies at a distance of 6,400 light years from Earth in the southern constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross. It got its name from the impression it made on astronomer John Herschel: "...this cluster, though neither a large nor a rich one, is yet an extremely brilliant and beautiful object when viewed through an instrument of sufficient aperture to show distinctly the very different colour of its constituent stars, which give it the effect of a superb piece of fancy jewellery." It is one of the youngest star clusters known, with an estimated age of only 14 million years.