The star cluster Terzan 5
Peering through the thick dust clouds of our galaxy's central parts (the "bulge") with an amazing amount of detail, a team of astronomers has revealed an unusual mix of stars in the stellar grouping known as Terzan 5. Never observed anywhere in the bulge before, this peculiar cocktail of stars suggests that Terzan 5 is in fact one of the bulge's primordial building blocks, most likely the relic of a dwarf galaxy that merged with the Milky Way during its very early days.
This near-infrared image was obtained with the Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope. Observations in two bands (J and K) were combined. The field of view is 40 arcseconds across.
ESO/F. Ferraro
About the Image
Id: | eso0945a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 25 November 2009, 12:00 |
Related releases: | eso0945 |
Size: | 1355 x 1373 px |
About the Object
Name: | Terzan 5 |
Type: | Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster |
Distance: | 25000 light years |
Constellation: | Sagittarius |
Category: | Star Clusters |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 17 48 4.43 |
Position (Dec): | -24° 46' 48.24" |
Field of view: | 0.63 x 0.64 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 179.8° right of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Infrared J | 1.1 μm | Very Large Telescope ESO Multi-conjugate Adaptive optics Demonstrator (MAD) |
Infrared Pseudogreen (J+K) | Very Large Telescope ESO Multi-conjugate Adaptive optics Demonstrator (MAD) | |
Infrared K | 2.2 μm | Very Large Telescope ESO Multi-conjugate Adaptive optics Demonstrator (MAD) |