Ancient orbs
This sparkling picture taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the centre of globular cluster M 4. The power of Hubble has resolved the cluster into a multitude of glowing orbs, each a colossal nuclear furnace.
M 4 is relatively close to us, lying 7200 light-years distant, making it a prime object for study. It contains several tens of thousand stars and is noteworthy in being home to many white dwarfs — the cores of ancient, dying stars whose outer layers have drifted away into space.
In July 2003, Hubble helped make the astounding discovery of a planet called PSR B1620-26 b, 2.5 times the mass of Jupiter, which is located in this cluster. Its age is estimated to be around 13 billion years — almost three times as old as the Solar System! It is also unusual in that it orbits a binary system of a white dwarf and a pulsar (a type of neutron star).
Amateur stargazers may like to track M 4 down in the night sky. Use binoculars or a small telescope to scan the skies near the orange-red star Antares in Scorpius. M 4 is bright for a globular cluster, but it won’t look anything like Hubble’s detailed image: it will appear as a fuzzy ball of light in your eyepiece.
On Wednesday 5 September, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) will publish a wide-field image of M 4, showing the full spheroidal shape of the globular cluster. See it at www.eso.org on Wednesday.
Credit:ESA/Hubble & NASA
About the Image
Id: | potw1236a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 3 September 2012, 10:00 |
Size: | 4165 x 4132 px |
About the Object
Name: | M 4, Messier 4, NGC 6121 |
Type: | Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular |
Distance: | 7000 light years |
Constellation: | Scorpius |
Category: | Star Clusters |
Image Formats
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 16 23 35.48 |
Position (Dec): | -26° 31' 29.48" |
Field of view: | 3.48 x 3.45 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 9.5° right of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical B | 435 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Optical V | 606 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Infrared I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |