The star cluster Terzan 5

Peering through the thick dust clouds of our galaxy's central parts (the "bulge") with an amazing amount of detail, a team of astronomers has revealed an unusual mix of stars in the stellar grouping known as Terzan 5. Never observed anywhere in the bulge before, this peculiar cocktail of stars suggests that Terzan 5 is in fact one of the bulge's primordial building blocks, most likely the relic of a dwarf galaxy that merged with the Milky Way during its very early days.

This near-infrared image was obtained with the Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope. Observations in two bands (J and K) were combined. The field of view is 40 arcseconds across.

Credit:

ESO/F. Ferraro

About the Image

Id:eso0945a
Type:Observation
Release date:25 November 2009, 12:00
Related releases:eso0945
Size:1355 x 1373 px

About the Object

Name:Terzan 5
Type:Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster
Distance:25000 light years
Constellation:Sagittarius
Category:Star Clusters

Image Formats

Large JPEG
464.6 KB
Screensize JPEG
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Coordinates

Position (RA):17 48 4.43
Position (Dec):-24° 46' 48.24"
Field of view:0.63 x 0.64 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 179.8° right of vertical