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> NGC 5139, Omega Centauri globular cluster
NGC 5139, Omega Centauri globular cluster
author: Nasa/Esa/Hubble heritage team/Novapix
reference: a-agb51-39008
Image Size 300 DPI: 101 * 92 cm
NGC 5139 is the largest and most spectacular globular cluster in the entire night sky, and the largest in our galaxy. At 36 arc minutes, Omega Centauri is larger than the full moon in apparent size. It is located about 17,000 light years away from our Sun and at 4th magnitude, is easily visible without a telescope as a "star" in the constellation of Centaurus. It contains about 2 millions stars, nearly twice as many as M13. This composite image obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and data obtained by the GMOS spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope in Chile show that Omega Centauri appears to harbour an elusive intermediate-mass black hole in its centre.
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