For the first time, astronomers have detected the presence of a throng of black holes crowding near the center of an ancient globular cluster. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/group-black-holes-found-globular-cluster-ngc-6397…
Tag: globular clusters
What is the Milky Way?
When someone says “Milky Way,” do you think of the starry pathway across our sky, or of the great pinwheel-shaped galaxy in space? Both are correct! Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/what-is-the-milky-way-galaxy…
New Milky Way family tree reveals a chaotic history
Scientists in Germany have created a new family tree of our Milky Way galaxy, showing how it has grown over billions of years from chaotic mergers with smaller galaxies. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/milky-way-family-tree-progenitor-galaxy-collisions-kraken…
What are ‘open’ star clusters?
Open clusters are young, loosely bound gatherings of stars that may still be surrounded by the nebula – or space cloud – in which they were born. The Pleiades, Hyades, and Beehive are well-known examples of open star clusters. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-examples-what-are-open-star-clusters…
Family tree of the Milky Way deciphered
Scientists have known for some time that galaxies can grow by the merging of smaller galaxies, but the ancestry of our own Milky Way galaxy has been a long-standing mystery. Now, an international team of astrophysicists has succeeded in reconstructing the first complete family tree of our home galaxy by analyzing the properties of globular clusters orbiting the Milky Way with…
Messier 85 has a peculiar globular cluster system, study finds
Astronomers have conducted a study of stellar population and kinematics of globular clusters (GCs) in the galaxy Messier 85, and found that this galaxy hosts a peculiar globular cluster system. The finding is reported in a paper published October 6 on the arXiv pre-print repository. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-10-messier-peculiar-globular-cluster.html…
Metal-poor globular cluster forces astronomers to rethink theories
The discovery of the most metal-poor globular cluster recorded to date has forced scientists to rethink how both galaxies and globular clusters form. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/metal-poor-globular-cluster-ext8-found-in-andromeda-galaxy…
Born under the sign of Ophiuchus?
Born between November 29 and December 18? If so, the sun passes in front of Ophiuchus on your birthday. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/born-between-november-29-and-december-18-heres-your-constellation…
According to globular clusters, the universe is 13.35 billion years old
It is a widely accepted theory today that when the first stars formed in our universe approximately 13 billion years ago, they quickly came together to form globular clusters. These clusters then coalesced to others to form the first galaxies, which have been growing through mergers and evolving ever since. For this reason, astronomers have long suspected that the oldest stars…
M5, your new favorite globular cluster
Sure, M13, the Great Hercules cluster, is wonderful. But some amateur astronomers say this cluster, M5, is even better. How to find it in your sky. Source: https://earthsky.org/clusters-nebulae-galaxies/m5-best-globular-cluster-for-small-telescopes…