Five generations of high-temperature stars revealed in the largest Milky Way globular cluster Omega Centauri

Tags: Science and Technology

Astronomers and scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) while studying the Omega Centauri have found that hot stars and white dwarfs emitted less ultraviolet radiation than expected.

Important facts

• The largest known globular cluster in the Milky Way may provide clues to the formation of a strange class of high-temperature stars in Omega Centauri.

What are Globular clusters?

• A globular cluster is a globular group of stars.

• Globular clusters are bound together by gravity, with high concentrations of stars toward their centres.

• They can include anywhere in the millions of stars.

• These mostly orbit in the extended stellar halo surrounding spiral galaxies.

• It is a matter of research how globular clusters are formed. Or what role they played in the evolution of galaxies.

Omega Centauri

• It is a globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus that was first identified as a non-stellar object by Edmond Halley in 1677.

• Located at a distance of 17,090 light-years, it is the largest known globular cluster in the Milky Way at a diameter of about 150 light-years.

• It also includes stars of a variety of ages, whereas other globular clusters contain stars from only one generation.

What is Galaxy?

• It is a huge collection of gas, dust, and billions of stars and their solar systems bound together by gravity.

• There are more than 100 billion galaxies in the universe, presenting beautiful structures that can be seen in telescopic images taken from the distant universe.