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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Omega Centauri

Wow.

This incredible globular cluster in the constellation Centaurus, known as Omega Centauri (NGC 5139), looked stunning in the telescope. Didn't get as many shots as I would have liked, it appears almost near the horizon. I quickly took as many as I could before it went down behind my brick wall.

Unguided, 23 x 15 second JPEG frames, 1600 ASA, automatic dark frame subtraction.

This globular cluster orbits our Milky Way galaxy. Only a few months ago, astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini Observatory in Chile claim to have found evidence of a medium-size black hole at its core.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

How exciting to think one can actually see this thru the telescope! How many million miles away?

Andy said...

Just 18,000 light years...or about 89 quadrillion miles.