by Playfuls Staff |
13th March 2007
European astronomers have discovered a new cluster of stars -- possibly a globular cluster -- in the inner [more] part of the Milky Way galaxy.
The circular cluster was imaged by the European Southern Observatory's New Technology Telescope located at La Silla, Chile.
Star clusters represent groups of stars with similar ages, chemical element abundances and distances, astronomers said, with globular clusters providing the most useful information. With ages of about 10 billion years, they are among the oldest objects in our galaxy, nearly as old as the universe.
"Moreover, the properties of globular clusters are deeply connected with the history of their host galaxy," said Dirk Froebrich of Britain's University of Kent, the lead-author of a paper presenting the results. "Thus, when investigating globular clusters we hope to be able to use them as an acid test for our understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies."
The cluster was identified by Froebrich, Germany's Helmut Meusinger of the Thuringer National Observatory, and Scotland's Aleks Scholz of the University of St Andrews.
The discovery is to appear in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
© 2007 UPI
