01:13 PM
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
The Hubble telescope has sent a new image showing what can be described as a sea of stars near the center of our Milky Way galaxy, in the form of an ancient globular star cluster.
Scientists believe that the stars in this image are about 12 billion years old – which makes them among the oldest stars in the universe.
And the huge star cluster, which is known as the globular star cluster or the closed star cluster, is called Pismis 26, according to the (Space) website.
It was named after astronomer Paris Pismis, who discovered star clusters at the Tonantzintla Observatory in Mexico more than 60 years ago.
The stars in Pismis 26 have a nearly spherical structure. The cluster appears to contain mostly red stars, with a few bright blue stars along the edges. These colors are partly due to the cluster’s estimated age of 12 billion years, which means it contains many of the oldest stars in our galaxy, if not the universe.
These red-hued stars are likely much older than the bright blue-hued stars that are typical of large, young, fast-burning stars that die early, or the yellow star that straddles the line between the two.
Scientists believe that these stars are rich in nitrogen, which also indicates that the globular cluster star population spans a range of ages, according to a NASA statement.