The stars of Pismis 26 have a nearly spherical structure. The cluster appears to contain mostly red stars, with some bright blue stars around the edges
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Hubble’s image reveals a “star cluster” in the Milky Way
Shown a new image Hubble Space Telescope A “sea” of stars near the center of the Milky Way is an ancient globular star cluster.
Scientists say so The stars are in this photo It is approximately 12 billion years old, making it one of the oldest stars in the universe.
The massive star cluster, known as the globular star cluster or closed star cluster, is called Pismis 26.
It is named after astronomer Paris Pismis, who discovered star clusters at the Tonantzintla Observatory in Mexico more than 60 years ago.
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And last October the “James Webb” space telescope, NASA’s “most powerful” was discovered The oldest star clusters that have ever been seen.
The stars of Pismis 26 have a nearly spherical structure. The cluster appears to contain mostly red stars, with some bright blue stars around the edges.
These colors are partly due to the cluster’s estimated age of 12 billion years, meaning it contains many of the oldest stars in our galaxy, if not the universe.
Stars are rich in nitrogen
These red stars are likely much older than the bright blue stars that are typical of large, young, fast-burning stars that die early, or the yellow star that straddles the line between the two.
The cluster is also highly metallic, meaning its stars contain higher levels of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium than stars like the Sun.
Notably, scientists believe these stars are rich in nitrogen, which also indicates that the population of globular cluster stars spans a range of ages, according to a NASA statement.
You may remember this image from earlier this year: It’s Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way https://t.co/BnwQDsp72Y
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Additionally, some of the cluster’s coloration comes from a phenomenon known as blushing, which is the result of dense stardust blocking short-wavelength blue light while allowing longer-wavelength red light to pass through more easily. .
Pismis 26 is located near the galactic bulge surrounding Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way. This part of the galaxy is particularly rich in dust, thanks to the presence of the black hole and its incredible gravity, as well as all the material surrounding it in the bulge and the dense field of stars it contains.
