The Omega Centauri globular cluster and the area surveyed

Image of the Omega Centauri globular cluster from the the Digital Sky Survey (left). The image covers a region of 2.1 x 1.1 degrees on the sky, illustrating the very large extent of this cluster of stars. The right image is the ACS exposure taken with the Hubble Space Telescope which the astronomers used to detect and study the two distinct populations of hydrogen core-burning stars. The position of the ACS field with respect to the full globular cluster is shown as the red box. This field was chosen to lie in the outskirts of the cluster in order to ensure that there won't be any "crowding" problems and that there would be only one star in each FLAMES/VLT fiber.

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ESO

Om bilden

ID:eso0509a
Typ:Kollage
Publiceringsdatum:15 mars 2005
Relaterade pressmeddelanden:eso0509
Storlek:4364 x 2020 px

Om objektet

Namn:NGC 5139, Omega Centauri
Typ:Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Avstånd:17000 ljusår
Kategori:Star Clusters

Bildformat

Stor jpeg
381,2 kB
Skärmstor jpeg
206,1 kB

Färger och filter

BandTeleskop
Synligt ljusHubble Space Telescope
ACS
Synligt ljus
R
Digitized Sky Survey 2
Synligt ljus
B
Digitized Sky Survey 2

Noter: The right image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The left image is an excerpt from the Digital Sky Survey.