NGC 1818: A Young Globular Cluster
Explanation:
Globular clusters once ruled the
Milky Way.
Back in the
old days, back when our Galaxy first
formed, perhaps thousands of globular clusters roamed
our Galaxy.
Today, there are
perhaps 200 left.
Many
globular clusters were destroyed
over the eons by repeated fateful encounters
with each other or the
Galactic center.
Surviving relics are
older than any Earth fossil,
older than any
other structures in our Galaxy, and
limit the universe itself in raw age.
There are few, if any, young
globular clusters in our
Milky Way Galaxy because
conditions are not ripe for more to form.
Things are different next door, however, in the neighboring
LMC galaxy.
Pictured above is a "young" globular cluster residing there:
NGC 1818.
Observations show it formed
only about 40 million years ago -
just yesterday compared to the 12 billion year ages of
globular clusters in our own
Milky Way
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
