Globular Cluster Terzan 1

100,000 stars bonded by gravity in a spherical shape hundreds of light-years across

Old, red stars inhabit globular cluster Terzan 1, which is a few hundred light-years across. The brighter, blue stars in this image are in fact foreground stars and not part of the globular cluster. Image credit: NASA & ESA

Space news (February 19, 2016) – 20,000 light-years away in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion) –

Astronomers using the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 onboard NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope recently took this image of globular cluster Terzan 1. Just one of around 150 globular clusters that are part of the Milky Way, the red stars in this image are some of the oldest stars in our galaxy. 

Astrophysicists study globular clusters in order to learn more about the early stages of the formation and evolution of the Milky Way. It also allows them to understand more about the formation and evolution of galaxies around the cosmos in general.

Astronomers also detect X-ray sources in Terzan 1, they believe emanate from binary star systems containing a dense neutron star and a normal star. They are currently studying these sources to understand and learn more about X-ray emissions and binary star systems.

Take the amazing journey of the Hubble Space Telescope here. 

Learn more about the Milky Way, the galaxy you live in, here.

Learn more about globular clusters here.

Read about the things astronomers have discovered about binary star systems here.

Read about the youngest, nearest black hole discovered.

Read about mysterious ripples detected traveling through the planet-forming region of a nearby star.

Read about a magnetar detected very close to the Monster of the Milky Way.