Wide-field View: Globular Cluster NGC 6362 in Ara | ESO

Wide-field View: Globular Cluster NGC 6362 in Ara | ESO

This wide-field view shows the region of sky around the globular star cluster NGC 6362 in the constellation of Ara (The Altar). This view was created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. 

Distance: 25,000 light years

Tightly bound by gravity, globular clusters are composed of old stars, which, at around 10 billion years old, are much older than the Sun. These clusters are fairly common, with more than 150 currently known in our galaxy, the Milky Way, and more which have been spotted in other galaxies.

Globular clusters are among the oldest structures in the Universe that are accessible to direct observational investigation, making them living fossils from the early years of the cosmos.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2

Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin

Release Date: Oct. 31, 2012

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