NGC5139 Omega Centauri, AlBroxton

NGC5139 Omega Centauri

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Description

Omega Centauri (ω Cen) or NGC5139 is a globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus, discovered by Edmond Halley in 1677 who listed it as a nebula. Omega Centauri had been listed in Ptolemy's catalog 2000 years ago as a star. Lacaille included it in his catalog as number I.5. It was first recognized as a globular cluster by the English astronomer John William Herschel in the 1830s. It is both the brightest and the largest known globular cluster associated with our galaxy . Of all the globular clusters in the Local Group of galaxies, only Mayall II in the Andromeda Galaxy is brighter and more massive. It is located about 15,800 light-years (4,850 pc) from Earth and contains several million Population II stars. The stars in its center are so crowded that they are estimated to average only 0.1 light years away from each other. It is about 12 billion years old. Omega Centauri is one of the few globular clusters visible to the naked eye and appears about as large as the full Moon.

Comments

Revisions

  • NGC5139 Omega Centauri, AlBroxton
    Original
  • NGC5139 Omega Centauri, AlBroxton
    B
  • NGC5139 Omega Centauri, AlBroxton
    C
  • NGC5139 Omega Centauri, AlBroxton
    D
  • NGC5139 Omega Centauri, AlBroxton
    E
  • NGC5139 Omega Centauri, AlBroxton
    F
  • Final
    NGC5139 Omega Centauri, AlBroxton
    G

Histogram

NGC5139 Omega Centauri, AlBroxton