Today's Image

Great Cluster in Hercules, aka M13

Posted by

and

April 27, 2014

M13, aka the Great Cluster in Hercules. This object is a globular star cluster, oneof our galaxy's oldest inhabitants. Photo via Bareket Observatory in Israel, via CelestronImages. — | The Great Cluster in Hercules, aka M13. Photo via our friend Ido at Bareket Observatory in Israel. Used with permission.

The Great Cluster in the constellation Hercules is one of the sights those with telescopes search for at this time of year. The eye has difficulty picking it out, but – as shown in this telescopic image from Ido at Bareket Observatory – the cluster is actually a vast symmetrical star city. It contains some 300,000 stars.

This object is a globular star cluster, one of our galaxy’s oldest inhabitants. In other words, as our Milky Way galaxy was forming, globular star clusters are thought to have been among the first things to form.

Posted

April 27, 2014

in

Today's Image

Deborah Byrd

View Articles

About the Author:

Deborah Byrd (asteroid 3505 Byrd) helps edit EarthSky.org and is a frequent host of EarthSky videos. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named in her honor in 1990, a Public Service Award from the National Science Board in 2003, and the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 2020. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.