The Massive Stars in Westerlund 1
			
		
		
		
			Star cluster Westerlund 1 is home to some of the largest and most massive stars known.
It is headlined by the star 
Westerlund 1-26, 
a red supergiant star so big that if placed in the center of 
our Solar System, it would extend out past the orbit of 
Jupiter.
Additionally, the young star cluster is home to 3 other 
red supergiants, 
6 yellow hypergiant stars, 
24 Wolf-Rayet stars, 
and several even-more unusual stars that continue to be studied. 
Westerlund 1 is relatively close-by for a star cluster at a distance of 15,000 
light years, 
giving 
astronomers 
a good laboratory to study the development of massive stars.
The featured image 
of Westerlund 1 was taken by the 
Hubble Space Telescope toward the southern 
constellation of the 
Altar (Ara).
Although presently classified as a "super" 
open cluster, 
Westerlund 1 may evolve into a low mass 
globular cluster 
over the next billion years.