A globular cluster glitters with starlight in a brand new photo from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Positioned 15,000 light-years from Earth, the globular cluster — formally referred to as Terzan 12 — is nestled deep in our Milky Way galaxy, within the constellation of Sagittarius. A globular cluster accommodates tons of of hundreds to tens of millions of stars tightly certain together by gravity, causing the big structures to seem spherical when viewed from Earth.
Hubble, a joint mission of NASA and the European Space Agency, snapped a brand new view of Terzan 12 shrouded in gas and dirt, which absorb and alter the starlight emanating from the globular cluster. A better concentration of stars might be seen near the middle of Terzan 12. This densely-packed group shines extra vivid in the brand new Hubble photo.
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“The Milky Way has about 150 ancient globular clusters at its outskirts,” NASA officials said in a press release. “These clusters orbit across the galactic center, but far above and below the pancake-flat plane of our galaxy, like bees buzzing around a hive.”
In the brand new Hubble photo, the interstellar dust particles scatter blue light, causing only the redder wavelengths from the cluster to come back through to our view. The brightest red stars within the photo are massive, aging giants several times larger than the sun. The intense blue stars within the photo are usually not a part of the cluster; they’re positioned within the foreground of the image, unobscured by interstellar material.
Hubble photographed Terzan 12 as a part of an initiative to research the globular clusters positioned toward the middle of our galaxy, where, in comparison with the outer halo of the Milky Way, there are relatively few, in keeping with the NASA statement.
Using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide-Field Camera 3, astronomers were capable of study the connection between age and composition of the galaxy’s innermost globular clusters, in comparison with those scattered throughout the Milky Way. NASA shared the glittering photo of Terzan 12 on Sept. 7.