The Omega Centauri globular cluster and the area surveyed

Image of the Omega Centauri globular cluster from the the Digital Sky Survey (left). The image covers a region of 2.1 x 1.1 degrees on the sky, illustrating the very large extent of this cluster of stars. The right image is the ACS exposure taken with the Hubble Space Telescope which the astronomers used to detect and study the two distinct populations of hydrogen core-burning stars. The position of the ACS field with respect to the full globular cluster is shown as the red box. This field was chosen to lie in the outskirts of the cluster in order to ensure that there won't be any "crowding" problems and that there would be only one star in each FLAMES/VLT fiber.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso0509a
Type:Collage
Release date:15 March 2005
Related releases:eso0509
Size:4364 x 2020 px

About the Object

Name:NGC 5139, Omega Centauri
Type:Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Distance:17000 light years
Category:Star Clusters

Image Formats

Large JPEG
381.2 KB
Screensize JPEG
206.1 KB

Colours & filters

BandTelescope
OpticalHubble Space Telescope
ACS
Optical
R
Digitized Sky Survey 2
Optical
B
Digitized Sky Survey 2

Notes: The right image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The left image is an excerpt from the Digital Sky Survey.