Galactic Cluster Looks Gorgeous in New Images Taken by NASA’s Hubble Telescope
The celestial majesty of the globular cluster NGC 6652 illuminates the cosmos in this awe-inspiring snapshot taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
The cluster’s heart glows with the serene blue radiance of uncountable stars, while a few particularly luminous stars in the foreground stand out, their brilliance enhanced by intersecting diffraction spikes.
Nestled within the Milky Way, in the Sagittarius constellation, NGC 6652 sits nearly 30,000 light-years away from our planet, and a mere 6,500 light-years from the core of our galaxy.
Globular clusters are enduring, tightly packed stellar assemblies bound together by robust gravitational forces.
These clusters can house anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of stars. The potent gravitational interactions among the densely packed stars lend these celestial bodies their characteristic spherical structure.
The image is a product of data collected by two of Hubble’s most potent instruments: the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera 3.
The data compilation is a result of two distinct observational programs conducted by separate teams of astronomers.
The first group mapped the Milky Way’s globular clusters with the aim of uncovering insights into their age and the galaxy’s overall gravitational potential.
The second group of researchers utilized a set of highly sensitive filters in Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 to decipher the ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen in globular clusters like NGC 6652.”
Image Credit: NASA