April 19, 2014 Messier 92, a globular cluster in Hercules Image Credits: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team and WikiSky’s snapshot tool Messier 92 (also known as NGC 6341) is a globular star cluster of some 109 light-years across. It is located about 26,700 light-years away from Earth in the northern constellation of Hercules, around [continue reading]
March 20, 2013 Omega Centauri, a globular cluster in Centaurus Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler Omega Centauri (also known as NGC 5139) is a globular cluster of approximately 172 light-years across, located about 15,800 light-years away from Earth in the large, southern constellation of Centaurus (the Centaur). The cluster is estimated to be [continue reading]
March 8, 2013 Messier 53, a bright globular cluster in Coma Berenices Image Credit: NASA/STScI/WikiSky Messier 53 (also known as NGC 5024) is a very bright globular cluster of roughly 220 light-years across, located about 58,000 light-years away from Earth in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair), and some 60,000 light-years away from [continue reading]
January 4, 2014 Messier 69, a globular cluster in Sagittarius Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Messier 69 (also known as NGC 6637) is a globular cluster of roughly 85 light-years across, with an estimated mass of 300,000 solar masses and an age of 13.06 billion years. It is located some 29,700 light-years away from Earth [continue reading]
November 7, 2013 Messier 10, a bright globular cluster in Ophiuchus Image Credit: ESA/NASA Messier 10 (also known as NGC 6254) is a bright, very large globular cluster of about 83 light-years across that lies some 14,300 light-years away from Earth in the central region of the constellation of Ophiuchus (the Serpent-Bearer), while it is [continue reading]
CfA astronomers made a remarkable and fortuitous discovery in 2005: an extremely fast moving star, clocked going over three million kilometers an hour. It appears to have been ejected from the vicinity of the galactic center’s supermassive black hole around 80 million years ago by powerful gravitational effects as it swung past the black [continue reading]