Hubble image archive

Globular Star Cluster NGC 1466

This image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals an ancient, glimmering ball of stars called NGC 1466. It is a globular cluster — a gathering of stars all held together by gravity — that is slowly moving through space on the outskirts of the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of ou...

Date
Jan 1, 2019
Mission
Hubble Space Telescope
Archive ID
hubblesite-images-2019-42-4567-image
By

This image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals an ancient, glimmering ball of stars called NGC 1466. It is a globular cluster — a gathering of stars all held together by gravity — that is slowly moving through space on the outskirts of the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of our closest galactic neighbors.

Blue straggler stars are blue, bright stars, with a higher mass than the average for a cluster, and they are expected to sink towards the center of a star cluster over time. Those closest to the cluster core are the first to migrate inwards, with more distant blue stragglers progressively moving inwards over time.

Credits

ESA and NASA

Image Details

About The Object
Object NameNGC 1466
Object DescriptionGlobular Star Cluster
R.A. Position03:44:32.99
Dec. Position71:40:15.92
ConstellationHydrus
DistanceThe star cluster is located 160,000 light-years away from Earth.
DimensionsImage is about 2.66 arcmin across (about 124 light-years)
About The Data
Data DescriptionThe HST observations include those from program (A. Sarajedini).
InstrumentHST>WFC3/UVIS; HST>ACS/WFC
Exposure DatesFebruary and July 2016
FiltersWFC3/UVIS: F336W and ACS/WFC: F606W, and F814W
About The Image
Color InfoThese images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/UVIS and the ACS/WFC instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample narrow and wide wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F336W Green = F606W Red = F814W

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Source

Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.

View on NASA.gov

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