Omega Centauri (cropped)

Esahubble_heic2409c_1024

esahubble_heic2409c July 10th, 2024

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Häberle (MPIA)

An international team of astronomers has used more than 500 images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope spanning two decades to detect seven fast-moving stars in the innermost region of Omega Centauri, the largest and brightest globular cluster in the sky. These stars provide compelling new evidence for the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole. Omega Centauri is visible from Earth with the naked eye and is one of the favourite celestial objects for stargazers in the southern hemisphere. Although the cluster is 17 700 light-years away, lying just above the plane of the Milky Way, it appears almost as large as the full Moon when seen from a dark rural area. The exact classification of Omega Centauri has evolved through time, as our ability to study it has improved. It was first listed in Ptolemy's catalogue nearly two thousand years ago as a single star. Edmond Halley reported it as a nebula in 1677, and in the 1830s the English astronomer John Herschel was the first to recognise it as a globular cluster. Omega Centauri consists of roughly 10 million stars that are gravitationally bound. This image shows the central region of the Omega Centauri globular cluster, where the IMBH candidate was found. [Image Description: The central region of a globular cluster is shown, appearing as a highly dense and numerous collection of shining stars. Some stars show blue and orange glowing features around them.]

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://esahubble.org/images/heic2409c/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Baltimore, MD, United States

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Omega Centauri
Esahubble_heic2409c_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 13h 26m 47.5s
DEC = -47° 28’ 47.1”
Orientation
North is 6.1° CCW
Field of View
0.7 x 0.7 arcminutes
Constellation
Centaurus

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Hubble (WFC3) Ultraviolet (UV) 275.0 nm
Blue Hubble (WFC3) Optical (U) 336.0 nm
Blue Hubble (WFC3) Optical (B) 438.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFC3) Optical (V) 606.0 nm
Green Hubble (ACS) Optical (V) 606.0 nm
Red Hubble (WFC3) Optical (N II) 658.0 nm
Red Hubble (WFC3) Optical (I) 814.0 nm
Red Hubble (ACS) Optical (I) 814.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFC3) Optical (r) 625.0 nm
Blue Hubble (ACS) Optical (B) 435.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Blue
Blue
Green
Green
Red
Red
Red
Green
Blue
Esahubble_heic2409c_1280
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ID
heic2409c
Subject Category
Subject Name
Omega Centauri
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Häberle (MPIA)
Release Date
2024-07-10T17:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://esahubble.org/images/heic2409c/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
WFC3, WFC3, WFC3, WFC3, ACS, WFC3, WFC3, ACS, WFC3, ACS
Color Assignment
Blue, Blue, Blue, Green, Green, Red, Red, Red, Green, Blue
Band
Ultraviolet, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
UV, U, B, V, V, N II, I, I, r, B
Central Wavelength
275, 336, 438, 606, 606, 658, 814, 814, 625, 435
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
201.69773848692805, -47.479740182186795
Reference Dimension
1120.0, 1120.0
Reference Pixel
560.0, 560.0
Scale
-1.1132381508199053e-05, 1.1132381508199053e-05
Rotation
6.079999999999969
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
ESA/Hubble
URL
https://esahubble.org
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
ESA Office, Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr
City
Baltimore
State/Province
MD
Postal Code
21218
Country
United States
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
ESA/Hubble
Publisher ID
esahubble
Resource ID
heic2409c
Metadata Date
2024-06-25T14:47:37+02:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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