Hubble image archive
Using Hubble to Chart the Future Motions of Stars Within a Cluster
The multicolor snapshot, at top, taken with Wide Field Camera 3 aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, captures the central region of the giant globular cluster Omega Centauri. All the stars in the image are moving in random directions, like a swarm of bees. Astronomers used Hubbl...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2010
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2010-28-2762-image
The multicolor snapshot, at top, taken with Wide Field Camera 3 aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, captures the central region of the giant globular cluster Omega Centauri. All the stars in the image are moving in random directions, like a swarm of bees. Astronomers used Hubble's exquisite resolving power to measure positions for stars in 2002 and 2006.
From these measurements, they can predict the stars' future movement. The bottom illustration charts the future positions of the stars highlighted by the white box in the top image. Each streak represents the motion of the star over the next 600 years. The motion between dots corresponds to 30 years.
Credits
Illustration: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI);Science: NASA, ESA, and J. Anderson and R. van der Marel (STScI)
Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Omega Centauri, NGC 5139, Omega Cen |
| Object Description | Globular Star Cluster |
| R.A. Position | 13h 26m 47.2s |
| Dec. Position | -47° 28' 46.44" |
| Constellation | Centaurus |
| Distance | 16,000 light-years or 4,800 parsecs |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The Hubble images were created from data from the calibration proposal : E. Sabbi, J. Kim Quijano, and L. Dressel (STScI). The proper motions of stars in the cluster were obtained from the following ACS proposals: A. Cool (San Francisco State Univ.), J. Anderson (STScI), C. Bailyn (Yale Univ.), J. Carlin (San Francisco Univ.), P. Edmonds (Eureka Scientific), J. Grindlay (Harvard Univ.), and D. Haggard (Univ. of Washington); : J. Anderson (STScI) and I. King (Univ. of Washington); and : A. Sarajedini (Univ. of Florida), J. Anderson (STScI), A. Aparicio (Inst. de Astrofisica de Canarias), L. Bedin (STScI), B. Chaboyer (Dartmouth College), I. King (Univ. of Washington), S. Majewski (Univ. of Virginia), G. Piotto (Univ. of Padua), N. Reid (STScI), A. Rosenberg (Inst. de Astrofisica de Canarias), and M. Siegel (Univ. of Texas, Austin) |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/UVIS |
| Exposure Dates | ACS: June 27-30, 2002, December 11, 2004, and June 22, 2006 WFC3/UVIS: July 15, 2009, Exposure Time: 2.7 hours |
| Filters | F225W (U), F275W (U), F336W (U), F438W (B), F606W (V), and F814W (I) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | The image is a composite of separate exposures made by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Three filters were used to sample broad wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F225W (U) Green: F336W (U) Red: F814W (I) |
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Source
Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
View on NASA.gov