My God. It’s Full Of Stars

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Behold: Messier 13 – the Great Globular Cluster in the constellationn of Hercules – one of the brightest in the Northern sky. To wit:

In 1716, English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, “This is but a little Patch, but it shews itself to the naked Eye, when the Sky is serene and the Moon absent.” (…/) Sharp telescopic views like this one reveal the spectacular cluster’s hundreds of thousands of stars. At a distance of 25,000 light-years, the cluster stars crowd into a region 150 light-years in diameter. Approaching the cluster core upwards of 100 stars could be contained in a cube just 3 light-years on a side. For comparison, the closest star to the Sun is over 4 light-years away. The remarkable range of brightness recorded in this image follows stars into the dense cluster core and reveals three subtle dark lanes forming the apparent shape of a propeller just below and slightly left of centre. Distant background galaxies in the medium-wide field of view include NGC 6207 at the upper left. 

Large version here.

Previous MGIFOS: Omega Centauri, NGC 6752 and NGC 7089

(Image: Eric Coles and Mel Helm)

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3 thoughts on “My God. It’s Full Of Stars

  1. Slightly Bemused

    Beautiful!
    I am hoping that with the relatively clear skies forecast for tonight and the weekend to dust off my own telescope. Sadly I do not have a camera attachment, but there is a serenity to be found sitting out slowly panning the skies. Sometimes I choose a target, sometimes I just see what is there. It is colder this time of year, but with clear skies you have some wonderful treats, and we can always wrap up well.

    On an aside, I find the quote given interesting, and the start of a linguistic search. The quote uses the term ‘shews’ which we now use as ‘shows’. So is this where the term ‘eschews’ comes from? Another thing to keep the mind busy during social isolation.

    1. Lush

      Totally agree.
      Do you know the app. Sky Map?
      Live time information on whatever part of the night sky you’re looking at.
      Wonderful way to while away the hours.

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