Stars found ‘30m times brighter than the sun’

British astronomers have used the Hubble space telescope to find a group of nine massive stars 30m times brighter than the sun.

An international team, led by astronomers from Sheffield University, said the cluster, 170,000 light years from Earth, is the largest group of massive stars identified to date.

The discovery raises questions about the formation of massive stars and also highlights the continuing capabilities of the ageing Hubble telescope.