Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Centaurus (Cen)  ·  Contains:  NGC 5139  ·  omega Cen
NGC5139 Omega Centauri, Carl Tanner
NGC5139 Omega Centauri
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NGC5139 Omega Centauri

NGC5139 Omega Centauri, Carl Tanner
NGC5139 Omega Centauri
Powered byPixInsight

NGC5139 Omega Centauri

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Our Galaxy's largest globular cluster, Omega Centauri (ngc5139). Although, technically speaking, it's most likely not a true globular cluster, but the core region of a galaxy, smaller than our own, that once orbited our Galaxy but was shredded down to its present size by our Galaxy's gravitational forces. Lying some 15800ly away, Omega weighs in at around 5 million solar masses, contains approx' 10 million stars and is around 192ly in diameter. It's the 2nd largest cluster in the Local Group, after G1 which orbits M31. Omega is easily visible to the naked eye, even from moderately light polluted town skies, as a bright, hazy patch, with an integrated magnitude of around 3.9. The stars of the cluster form several discrete groups of different metallicities, which is one of the indicators that it is not a true globular cluster, whose stars all form concurrently with one another. It's oldest stars are around 12 billion years old. The cluster was first observed in 150AD, by the Greco-Roman philosopher and astronomer, Ptolemy, who noted it in his "Almagest" as a "star riding on a horse's back.". Pic was taken on t68 at the Bathurst Observatory (BAT), iTelescope Network. 5x60sec subs.

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NGC5139 Omega Centauri, Carl Tanner