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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня M15: плотное шаровое звездное скопление http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1441832/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Bernhard Hubl
(CEDIC)
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 telescopic view,
M15 lies about 35,000
light
years away toward the constellation Pegasus,
well beyond the spiky foreground stars.
Its diameter is about 200 light-years.
But more than half its stars are packed into the central 10
light-years or so, 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
dense
globular cluster M15.
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.