Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

This rich and dense smattering of stars is a massiveglobular cluster, a gravitationally-bound collection of stars that orbits the Milky Way. Globular clusters are denser and more spherical than open star clusters like the famousPleiades. They typically contain hundreds of thousands of stars that are thought to have formed at roughly the same time. Studies have shown that this globular cluster, named NGC 6139, is home to an aging population of stars. Most globular clusters orbiting the Milky Way are estimated to be over 10 billion years old; as a result they contain some of the oldest stars in our galaxy, formed very early in the galaxys history. However, their role in galactic evolution is still a matter of study. This cluster is seen roughly in the direction of the centre of the Milky Way, in the constellation ofScorpius (The Scorpion). This constellation is a goldmine of fascinating astronomical objects. Hubble has set its sights on Scorpius many times to observe objects such as the butterfly-likeBug Nebula,surprising binary star systems, andother dazzling globular clusters.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1826a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License