Peering into the Core of a Globular Cluster
Astronomers have used NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to peer into the centre of a dense swarm of stars called Omega Centauri. Located some 17, 000 light-years from Earth, Omega Centauri is a massive globular star cluster, containing several million stars swirling in locked orbits around a common centre of gravity. The stars are packed so densely in the cluster's core that it is difficult for ground-based telescopes to make out individual stars. Hubble's high resolution is able to pick up where ground-based telescopes leave off, capturing distinct points of light from stars at the very centre of the cluster.
Credit:
About the Image
NASA press release
NASA caption
NASA caption
| Id: | opo0133a |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 4 October 2001, 15:00 |
| Size: | 1474 x 1474 px |
About the Object
| Name: | NGC 5139, Omega Centauri |
| Type: | • Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular • Star Clusters Images/Videos |
| Distance: | 17000 light years |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Ultraviolet U |
336 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical H-alpha |
656 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical R |
675 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
