M4 - The closest globular cluster from earth (Márcio Spínola)

M4 - The closest globular cluster from earth

This globular cluster is located in the vicinity of Antares, alpha Scorpio and has an apparent diameter close to that of a full moon, although its measured diameter is approximately 75 light-years. Very interesting to note that there is an alignment of stars at the center, probably resulting from tidal forces associated with several encounters closer to the Milky Way center due to the eccentricity of the orbit and that probably dragged many stars out of the cluster as well.

In spiral galaxies, for example, globular star clusters are located in the bulge of galaxies and are considered the remaining objects or structures that survived galactic evolution, being probably small galaxies in this case that were being assimilated by the Milky Way during the process of evolution.

M4 is only 6000 light-years away being the closest globular cluster to us! In this record made with a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope of 300 mm in diameter we can see many stars individually. I apologize a priori that I only got 104 s exposure time at the moment of registration, but I still share the result. The colors of the stars also represent different populations and they differ according to mass and age. M4 is also home to the oldest stars in the universe with, for example, 12.2 billion years old according to Wikipedia.

Este aglomerado globular está localizado nas proximidades de Antares, alfa de escorpião e tem um diâmetro aparente próximo a de uma lua cheia, embora seu diâmetro medido é de aproximadamente 75 anos-luz. Muito interessante notar que há um alinhamento de estrelas no centro, provavelmente resultante de forças de maré associadas a vários encontros mais próximos do centro da Via Láctea devido a excentricidade da orbita e que provavelmente arrastou muitas estrela para fora do aglomerado também.

Em galáxias espirais, por exemplo, os aglomerados globulares de estrelas estão localizados no bojo das galáxias e são considerados os objetos ou estruturas remanescentes que sobreviveram à evolução galáctica, sendo provavelmente pequenas galáxias que foram sendo assimiladas pela Via-Láctea durante o processo de evolução.

M4 está distante apenas 6000 anos-luz de distância sendo o aglomerado globular mais próximo de nós! Neste registro feito com um telescópio Schmidt-Cassegrain de 300 mm de diâmetro podemos ver muitas estrelas individualmente. Peço desculpas a priori que só consegui 104 s tempo de exposição na ocasião do registro, mas mesmo assim compartilho o resultado. A cor das estrelas representam também diferentes populações e que diferem de acordo com a massa e idade. M4 também é lar das estrelas mais antigas do universo com, por exemplo, 12,2 bilhões de anos de acordo com Wikipedia.

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	8522320
PixInsight job	JN3YVUEYBO507DAKYIB6NEE6O5RPKHKV
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	16h23m35s.318
RA (top/left)	16h24m56s.760
RA (top/right)	16h23m39s.253
RA (bottom/right)	16h22m14s.570
RA (bottom/left)	16h23m31s.315

Dec (center)	-26°31′57″.92
Dec (top/left)	-26°39′05″.17
Dec (top/right)	-26°12′29″.54
Dec (bottom/right)	-26°24′52″.56
Dec (bottom/left)	-26°51′31″.55

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