A new image of Messier 55 from ESO's VISTA infrared survey telescope shows tens of thousands of stars crowded together like a swarm of bees. Besides being packed into a relatively small space, these stars are also among the oldest in the Universe. Astronomers study Messier 55 and other ancient objects like it, called globular clusters, to learn how galaxies evolve and stars age.
The release, images and videos are available on:
http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1220/
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The ESO Education and Public Outreach Department
9 May 2012
