FIUCASE
Messier 30 - Globular Cluster
The previously featured Messier 30, a globular cluster within the Capricornus constellation, is the thirtieth object in Charles Messier’s famous catalogue. Discovered in 1764 by Messier himself, the cluster is approximately 12.93 billion years old, 27,000 light years away, and has a diameter of 90 light years. Within this Class V cluster (a moderate concentration towards the center) lies about 150,000 stars! Indeed, a core collapse within M30 has caused the center to become highly dense. Fun fact: Astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have discovered a binary star system about less than one half of a light year from the center. This system includes an extremely dense and small star known as a neutron star, which is the leftover material from a supernova that resulted from the collapse of a massive star. This is the result of four images from red, blue, green, and luminance filters, each exposed for 30 seconds. They were taken by physics major Daniel Puentes with the Stocker AstroScience Center’s telescope and were reduced and color combined by Gabriel Salazar.
Messier 30 - Globular Cluster
The previously featured Messier 30, a globular cluster within the Capricornus constellation, is the thirtieth object in Charles Messier’s famous catalogue. Discovered in 1764 by Messier himself, the cluster is approximately 12.93 billion years old, 27,000 light years away, and has a diameter of 90 light years. Within this Class V cluster (a moderate concentration towards the center) lies about 150,000 stars! Indeed, a core collapse within M30 has caused the center to become highly dense. Fun fact: Astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have discovered a binary star system about less than one half of a light year from the center. This system includes an extremely dense and small star known as a neutron star, which is the leftover material from a supernova that resulted from the collapse of a massive star. This is the result of four images from red, blue, green, and luminance filters, each exposed for 30 seconds. They were taken by physics major Daniel Puentes with the Stocker AstroScience Center’s telescope and were reduced and color combined by Gabriel Salazar.