Four globular clusters in Fornax
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows four globular clusters in the dwarf galaxy Fornax.
New observations of the clusters — large balls of stars that orbit the centres of galaxies — show they are very similar to those found in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The finding is at odds with leading theories on how these clusters form — in these theories, globular clusters should be nestled among large quantities of old stars — and so the mystery of how these objects came to exist deepens.
Left to right: Fornax 1, Fornax 2, Fornax 3 and Fornax 5. Their positions within the galaxy are shown in image G.
Credit:About the Image
Id: | heic1425a |
Type: | Collage |
Release date: | 20 November 2014, 16:00 |
Related releases: | heic1425 |
Size: | 2822 x 700 px |
About the Object
Name: | Fornax 1, Fornax 2, Fornax 3, Fornax 5, Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal (Galaxy) |
Type: | Local Universe : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular Local Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf |
Category: | Galaxies Star Clusters |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Ultraviolet U | 343 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Optical V | 555 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Infrared I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |