The globular cluster NGC 6397
This ESA/NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 image shows the globular cluster NGC 6397 in the constellation Ara (the Altar). It is composed of six exposures through different filters: violet/indigo (Strvmgren u, 345 nm, 15080 seconds), blue (B, 418 nm, 8580 seconds), dark green (V, 515 nm, 978 seconds), light green (H-alpha, 656 nm, 24180 seconds), red-orange (R, 678 nm, 1538 seconds), and red (I, 839 nm, 978 seconds). The cluster is home to a highly unusual system consisting of a fast spinning pulsar and a bloated red companion star.
Credit:
European Space Agency & Francesco Ferraro (Bologna Astronomical Observatory)
About the Image
| Id: | heic0201c |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 13 February 2002, 15:00 |
| Related releases: | heic0201 |
| Size: | 1416 x 1493 px |
About the Object
| Name: | NGC 6397 |
| Type: | • Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular • Star Clusters Images/Videos |
| Distance: | 7000 light years |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Ultraviolet U |
345 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical B |
418 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical V |
515 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical H-alpha |
656 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical R |
678 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Infrared I |
839 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
