New Delhi, Nov. 6 -- UBC 63, a poorly populatedgroup of stars, bound loosely by gravity (Galactic open cluster) about 4892 light years away from the Earth, which was previously identified as a single star cluster, has now been found to be composed of two distinct star clusters.

The chance discovery provided a rare opportunity to study the aftermath of a close flyby between two stellar systems and offers new insights into the dynamical evolution of star clusters in the Milky Way.

Star clusters are important building blocks of galaxies. They are groups of stars that form within the same large reservoirs of gas and dust and subsequently evolve under the influence of their own gravity as well as the broader Galactic environment. Among them,...