Fossil Relic of early Milky Way tagged posts

Hubble Discovers Rare Fossil Relic of early Milky Way

The unusual cluster Terzan. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble/F. Ferraro

The unusual cluster Terzan. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble/F. Ferraro

A fossilised remnant of the early Milky Way harbouring stars of hugely different ages has been revealed. This stellar system resembles a globular cluster, but is like no other cluster known. It contains stars remarkably similar to the most ancient stars in the Milky Way and bridges the gap in understanding between our galaxy’s past and its present.

Terzan 5, 19 000 light-years from Earth, has been classified as a globular cluster for the 40-odd years since its detection. Now, an Italian-led team of astronomers have discovered that Terzan 5 is like no other globular cluster known...

Read More