Posted on 10/10/2025 12:05:18 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: Messier 15 is an immense swarm of over 100,000 stars. A 13 billion year old relic of the early formative years of our galaxy it's one of about 170 globular star clusters that still roam the halo of the Milky Way. Centered in this sharp reprocessed Hubble image, M15 lies some 35,000 light-years away toward the constellation Pegasus. Its diameter is about 200 light-years, but more than half its stars are packed into the central 10 light-years or so, making one of the densest concentrations of stars known. Hubble-based measurements of the increasing velocities of M15's central stars are evidence that a massive black hole resides at the center of the dense cluster. M15 is also known to harbour a planetary nebula. Called Pease 1 (aka PN Ps 1), it can be seen in this image as a small blue blob below and just right of center.
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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
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Another Messier Object, good choice! ๐ฑโ๐
This is a great photo to use the magnify feature on the link by clicking on the picture and clicking on the magnifying glass. This is close and has stunning detail.
Itโs a favorite of mine, too!
Globular clusters rule.
Thanks.
Of course, here in Michigan we’ve got some mistaken ID problems...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-15_(Michigan_highway)
WE ARE NOT ALONE !!!!!!!
Thank you so much for keeping this going — I check out the posts and pics most every day with my grandson, who LOVES space and stars and all that astronaut-y stuff :)
What do you mean dense, maybe not too bright...
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