A beforehand unexplored globular cluster glitters with multicolored stars on this NASA Hubble Space Telescope picture. Globular clusters like this one, known as ESO 591-12 or Palomar 8, are spherical collections of tens of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of stars tightly certain collectively by gravity. Globular clusters typically type early within the galaxies’ histories in areas wealthy in gasoline and dirt. Because the stars type from the identical cloud of gasoline because it collapses, they sometimes hover across the identical age. Strewn throughout this picture of ESO 591-12 are quite a lot of crimson and blue stars. The colours point out their temperatures; crimson stars are cooler, whereas the blue stars are hotter.
Hubble captured the information used to create this picture of ESO 591-12 as a part of a examine meant to resolve particular person stars of your complete globular cluster system of the Milky Manner. Hubble revolutionized the examine of globular clusters since earthbound telescopes are unable to differentiate particular person stars within the compact clusters. The examine is a part of the Hubble Lacking Globular Clusters Survey, which targets 34 confirmed Milky Manner globular clusters that Hubble has but to watch.
This system goals to offer full observations of ages and distances for the entire Milky Manner’s globular clusters and examine basic properties of still-unexplored clusters within the galactic bulge or halo. The observations will present key info on the early phases of our galaxy, when globular clusters shaped.
Picture credit score: NASA, ESA, and D. Massari (INAF — Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic College of America)