Omega Centauri

This photo of Omega Centauri, the brightest and largest globular cluster in the sky, was obtained with the Danish 1.5 m telescope at the ESO La Silla observatory. It shows the central part only; the cluster is actually much larger than the field reproduced here. At a distance of about 16,500 light-years, the diameter of the field corresponds to a linear distance of about 90 light-years. Within this area, there are hundreds of thousands of stars which belong to the cluster.

A recent investigation carried out with the CORAVEL instrument, also attached to this telescope, has shown that the total mass of Omega Centauri is in excess of 5 million solar masses, making it by far the most massive cluster of its type on the Milky Way galaxy.

Credit:

ESO

Over de afbeelding

Id:eso9411a
Type:Observatie
Publicatiedatum:27 mei 1994
Gerelateerde berichten:eso9411
Grootte:400 x 349 px

Over het object

Naam:Omega Centauri
Type:Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Afstand:17000 lichtjaren
Constellation:Phoenix
Categorie:Star Clusters

Afbeeldingstypen

Grote JPEG
89,4 KB

Achtergrond

1024x768
241,7 KB
1280x1024
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1600x1200
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1920x1200
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2048x1536
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Coordinates

Position (RA):23 50 30.60
Position (Dec):-43° 26' 2.96"

Kleuren & filters

BandGolflengteTelescoop
Optisch
B
465 nmDanish 1.54-metre telescope