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Credit & Copyright: ESA/Hubble,
NASA
Explanation:
If our Sun were part of this star cluster, the
night sky would glow like a jewel box of bright stars.
This cluster, known as
M53 and cataloged as NGC 5024, is one of about 250
globular clusters that survive in our Galaxy.
Most of the stars in
M53
are older and redder than our Sun, but some enigmatic stars appear to be bluer and
younger.
These young
stars might contradict the hypothesis that all the stars in
M53
formed at nearly the same time.
These unusual stars are known as
blue stragglers and are unusually common in M53.
After much debate,
blue stragglers are now thought to be stars rejuvenated by
fresh matter falling in from a binary star companion.
By analyzing pictures of globular clusters like the
featured image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers
use the abundance of stars like
blue stragglers to help
determine the age of the globular cluster and hence a limit on the age of the universe.
M53, visible
with a binoculars towards the
constellation of Bernice's Hair (Coma Berenices),
contains over 250,000 stars and is one of the furthest
globulars from the center of our Galaxy.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: globular cluster
Publications with words: globular cluster
See also: