The Primordial Cluster (NGC 602)

A window into the early universe. NGC 602 is a star cluster located on the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, 200,000 light-years away. This environment is unique—it has very low levels of heavy elements, mimicking the conditions of the primordial universe billions of years ago.

The image reveals a cluster of young, hot stars embedded in a nebula of multi-colored gas and dust. The radiation from these stars is carving out 'ridges' and 'peaks' in the surrounding dark clouds, creating a cavernous, illuminated landscape. Intriguingly, Webb has detected candidates for the first young 'brown dwarfs'—failed stars—outside our own Milky Way in this cluster. The image is a dense, rich tapestry of distant galaxies visible through the gas, offering a sense of infinite depth.

Scientific provenance

Editions

• Fine Art — museum-grade pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Metallic. Numbered edition of 50 per size, with a Numbered Certificate of Authenticity.
• Poster — pigment print on archival photo paper. Open edition.
• Framed or unframed — either edition can be framed in a slim black frame with shatter-resistant acrylic glazing, ready to hang (50 × 50 and 50 × 70 cm). Framed works ship free within the EU; unframed prints ship rolled in a protective tube.

Printed to order in our Vilnius studio on an Epson SureColor P20500 with UltraChrome PRO12 pigment inks, and dispatched within 5–7 business days. Each size is composed for its own proportions: we crop, we never stretch, and we never add or generate image content.

Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeidler, E. Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb). Licensed under CC BY 4.0; cropped and colour-managed for print. UniverseMuseum is an independent studio and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI or the Rubin Observatory.