M13 - Hercules Cluster (Click on photo and then click again for a full resolution image).
 |
M13- The Hercules globular star cluster M13 is a globular star cluster located in the constellation of Hercules and is at a distance of about 25,000 light years from Earth. Globular star clusters are spherical groups of several hundred thousand stars that occupy a halo region around the central bulge of spiral galaxies. M13 is one of many clusters in the halo around our own Milky Way galaxy. Globular clusters are thought to be among the oldest objects in the universe. In the cores of globular clusters, the stars are more than 500 times closer together than they are in the galactic disk area in which our own solar system resides. The small spiral galaxy in the image is NGC 6207 which is about one-third the size of the Milky Way galaxy and is located at about 30 million light-years from Earth. Image acquisition: |