Open in 3DWhat it is
About ten million stars, the largest globular cluster of the Milky Way; it may be the core of a small galaxy the Milky Way swallowed.
The picture hangs at that distance facing Earth, as large as it is on the sky; how deep the object is cannot be seen, so it is flat.
The picture
- Taken by
- European Southern Observatory
- Picture spans
- about 160 ly
- From the Sun
- 17,000 light-years
- RA / Dec
- 201.70° / -47.48°
- Credit
- ESO
Omega Centauri
Omega Centauri is a globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus that was first identified as a non-stellar object by Edmond Halley in 1677. Located at a distance of 17,090 light-years, it is the largest known globular cluster in the Milky Way at a diameter of roughly 150 light-years.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA · Read the article
In the Milky Way
- Pillars of CreationStar-forming columns in the Eagle Nebula · 5,700 light-years3D
Picture: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; J. DePasquale, A. Koekemoer, A. Pagan (STScI).
- Orion NebulaNearest large star-forming region, M42 · 1,344 light-years3D
- Crab NebulaSupernova remnant, M1 · 6,500 light-years3D
- PleiadesOpen star cluster, M45 · 444 light-years3D
- Cosmic CliffsEdge of NGC 3324 in Carina · 7,600 light-years3D
- Horsehead NebulaDark nebula, Barnard 33 · 1,375 light-years3D
- Carina NebulaStar-forming region, NGC 3372 · 7,500 light-years3D
Picture: ESO. Acknowledgement: VPHAS+ Consortium/Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit
- Sagittarius A*, imagedEvent Horizon Telescope, 2022 · 26,670 light-years3D
