Engulfed by stars near the Milky Ways heart

Esahubble_potw1126a_1024

esahubble_potw1126a June 27th, 2011

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged an area so jam-packed with stars that they almost overwhelm the inky blackness of space. This includes the globular star cluster Djorgovski 1, which was only discovered in 1987 Djorgovski 1 is located close to the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy, within the bulge. If the galaxy is thought of as being like a city, then this bulge is the very busiest district at its centre. Djorgovski 1's proximity to this hub within just a few degrees explains why the picture is teeming with stars. Globular clusters like Djorgovski 1 formed early in the Milky Way's history, and as such may hold clues about the inner galaxys early evolution. However, with so much material in the way, obtaining accurate data is problematic. To make matters worse, these stars are faint. Even the most luminous stars in Djorgovski 1 are fainter than the brightest giant stars in the bulge. Another quandary is apparent: how do you know which stars belong to Djorgovski 1, and which are from the bulge? To determine this, astronomers have studied the chemical composition of numerous stars in the area. Stars with a similar composition likely belong in the same group, like siblings in a family. This technique has successfully provided the information to distinguish between stars in Djorgovski 1 and the surrounding bulge. These studies also reveal that Djorgovski 1s stars contain hydrogen and helium, but not much else. In astronomical terms, they are described as metal-poor. In fact, it appears that Djorgovski 1 is one of the most metal-poor clusters in the inner galaxy. It is not clear why this is the case, but additional research may shed light on the issue. This picture was created from multiple images taken with the Wide Field Camera of Hubbles Advanced Camera for Surveys. Exposures through a yellow/orange filter (F606W) are coloured blue and images through a near-infrared filter (F814W) are shown as red. The total exposure times per filter are 340 s and 360 s, respectively, and the field of view is 2.7 by 1.5 arcminutes in extent.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1126a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Djorgovski 1
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Grouping > Cluster > Globular
Esahubble_potw1126a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 17h 47m 28.5s
DEC = -33° 3’ 56.1”
Orientation
North is 92.9° CCW
Field of View
2.7 x 1.5 arcminutes
Constellation
Scorpius

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Hubble (ACS) Infrared (I) -
Green Hubble (ACS) Optical (Pseudogreen (V+I)) -
Blue Hubble (ACS) Optical (V) -
Esahubble_potw1126a_1280
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ID
potw1126a
Subject Category
B.3.6.4.2  
Subject Name
Djorgovski 1
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date
2011-06-27T10:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1126a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
ACS, ACS, ACS
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
Infrared, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
I, Pseudogreen (V+I), V
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
266.868706226, -33.0655853407
Reference Dimension
3219.0, 1769.0
Reference Pixel
1609.0, 884.0
Scale
-1.3879842115e-05, 1.3879842115e-05
Rotation
92.940000000000026
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
ESA/Hubble
URL
http://www.spacetelescope.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
ESA/Hubble
Publisher ID
esahubble
Resource ID
potw1126a
Metadata Date
2011-06-09T13:44:45+02:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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