White Dwarf Stars in M4
Right Image
A view of globular cluster M4 (fourth object in the Messier catalog of star clusters and nebulae). The nearest globular cluster to Earth (7, 000 light-years away), and containing more than 100, 000 stars, M4 was the target of a Hubble Space Telescope search for white dwarf stars.
The box (right of center) shows the small area that Hubble telescope probed.
Credit: M. Bolte (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Kitt Peak National Observatory 0.9-meter telescope
Left Image
A Hubble Space Telescope colour image of a small portion of the cluster only 0.63 light-years across reveals eight white dwarf stars among the cluster's much brighter population of yellow sun-like stars and cooler red dwarf stars.
Hubble reveals a total of 75 white dwarfs in one small area within M4, out of the total of about 40, 000 white dwarfs that the cluster is predicted to contain.
Credit: Harvey Richer (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) and NASA
Credit:About the Image
About the Object
| Name: | M 4, Messier 4, NGC 6121 |
| Type: | Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular |
| Distance: | 5500 light years |
| Category: | Star Clusters Stars |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
|---|---|---|
| Ultraviolet U | 336 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
| Optical V | 555 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
| Infrared I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Notes: The left image was captured by the Kitt Peak National Observatory 0.9-meter telescope, the right image is from the Hubble Space Telescope.