NASA has released an absolutely beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the globular cluster Messier 75.
This Hubble image shows a globular cluster called Messier 75. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / F. Ferraro et al.
Messier 75 lies in the constellation of Sagittarius, around 67,000 light-years away from Earth.
Also known as M75 or NGC 6864, it is a globular cluster — a spherical collection of stars bound together by gravity.
Clusters like this orbit around galaxies and typically reside in their outer and less-crowded areas, gathering to form dense communities in the galactic suburbs.
Discovered in 1780 by Pierre Méchain, Messier 75 was also observed by Charles Messier and added to his catalogue later that year.
It is the most centrally concentrated globular cluster in Messier’s catalog, with the majority of its stars located in its large core.
In total, there are approximately 400,000 stars in the globular cluster.
Messier 75 is also one of the most densely populated clusters ever found, with a phenomenal luminosity of some 180,000 times that of the Sun.
The cluster is believed to be around 13 billion years old and has a diameter of about 134 light-years.
This image of Messier 75 is a composite of observations taken in visible light using Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) instruments.
Four filters were used to sample various wavelengths.
The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.
