Dense Cluster in a Dense Starfield

One of the largest and brightest star clusters in the Milky Way galaxy is the Arches cluster, and its easy to see why.  Lying only 100 light years away from the supermassive black hole that lies in the heart of our galaxy, it formed in an incredibly dense environment. It lies 25,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius, and contains thousands of massive stars, including 160 that are hot, young, and exceptionally more massive than the Sun. Only 1 in 10 Million stars in the galaxy are as bright as these massive central 160 stars.   Though it is...