Star family seen through dusty fog

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Colour-composite image of the newly discovered globular cluster candidate FSR 1735 in the inner parts of the Milky Way. The cluster is the circular regions of stars and enhanced brightness in the centre of the image. The image is based on data obtain ...
Colour-composite image of the newly discovered globular cluster candidate FSR 1735 in the inner parts of the Milky Way. The cluster is the circular regions of stars and enhanced brightness in the centre of the image. The image is based on data obtained through three near-infrared filters (J, H, and K), for a total exposure time of 225 seconds per filter. The SofI instrument on ESO's NTT was used. The image size is about 5 x 5 arcmin. North is up and East is to the left. The final image processing was done by Henri Boffin (ESO). Credit: ESO

Images made with ESO's New Technology Telescope at La Silla by a team of German astronomers reveal a rich circular cluster of stars in the inner parts of our Galaxy. Located 30,000 light-years away, this previously unknown closely-packed group of about 100,000 stars is most likely a new globular cluster.


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All News summaries for March 13, 2007