Posted on 05/19/2015 2:30:13 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Globular star cluster 47 Tucanae is a jewel box of the southern sky. Also known as NGC 104, it roams the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy along with over 150 other globular star clusters. The second brightest globular cluster (after Omega Centauri) as seen from planet Earth, 47 Tuc lies about 17,000 light-years away and can be spotted naked-eye near the Small Magellanic Cloud in the constellation of the Toucan. The dense cluster is made up of hundreds of thousands of stars in a volume only about 120 light-years across. Recent observations have shown that 47 Tuc's white dwarf stars are in the process of being gravitationally expelled to the outer parts of the cluster due to their relatively low mass. Other colorful low mass stars including yellowish red giant stars are easy to pick out on the outskirts of the cluster in this recently released sharp telescopic portrait by the Hubble Space Telescope.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA); Acknowledgment: J. Mack (STScI) and G. Piotto (U. Padova) ]
Looks like billions and billions of stars....
Ooooh! Shiny! That is a gorgeous Big One, Mr. Civilizations.
I can’t look at the APODs without believing the existence of God.
But I see Him on Earth as well. The Universe had to have a Prime Cause, and that would be Almighty God, and no one else.
That’s one crowded neighborhood. Hope they have galaxy collision insurance. It would be one helluva show, wouldn’t it?
Diameter = 120 light years
Radius = Dia / 2 = 60 light years
Volume = 4/3 * r^3. = 288,000 cubic light years.
I have never been far enough south to see this puppy, but, Saturday night pass, I went out to the dark sky site and spent a good chunk of the evening viewing Omega Centauri.
I hope to one day look at both and compare and contrast.
;’)
Nice!
That’s a lot of space.
Of course, it could be bigotry against midgets.
That is one big glob.
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