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Omega Centauri Context Image

A Hubble image of globular star cluster Omega Centauri, which looks like a dense field of stars. Some stars appear a bit larger and brighter than others; most appear blue, orange, or yellow. The colors appear uniformly distributed, like grains of sand. Stars toward the cluster’s center are packed closer together, creating a more luminous area at the globular cluster’s core. A small red square frame is superimposed on the cluster near the image’s center. It connects to a square pullout in the top-right corner, which shows the outlined area in greater detail. Among the blue- and orange-colored stars is small blue-white dot highlighted by a small red circle.

Although models suggest globular star cluster Omega Centauri should contain approximately 10,000 stellar-mass black holes, observational evidence of their existence has remained scarce.

A team of astronomers recently tracked the position of stars on the sky over more than 20 years using a robust multi-mission dataset of archival data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope as well as recent data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Based on their analysis, the science team detected a visible main sequence star orbiting a stellar-mass black hole. The main sequence star companion is encircled and shown in greater detail in the pullout in the top-right corner. The stellar-mass black hole, called oMEGACat BH-2, is the first of its kind found in Omega Centauri.

Its discovery sparks many questions surrounding the physics and formation of stellar-mass black holes within globular star clusters, and strengthens the need for follow-up studies of Omega Centauri and investigations into similar environments.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    13:26:46.27
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -47:28:25.51
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Centaurus
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    17000 light-years

About the Data

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    WFC3; ACS
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    WFC3: F275W, F336W, F438W, F606W, F625W, F658N, F814W ACS: F435W, F606W, F814W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Omega Centauri
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Globular Cluster
  • Release Date
    July 13, 2026
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Hubble Discovers First of Star Cluster’s Missing Black Holes
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: ESA, NASA, Maximilian Häberle (MPIA), Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Downloads

  • Full Res (For Display), 13719 × 13719
    png (362.05 MB)
  • Full Res (For Print), 13719 × 13719
    tif (538.56 MB)
  • Full Res (JPG), 13719 × 13719
    jpg (160.14 MB)
  • 2000 × 2000
    jpg (4.47 MB)
  • Unannotated Full Res (For Display), 13719 × 13719
    png (388.51 MB)
  • Unannotated Full Res (For Print), 13719 × 13719
    tif (538.56 MB)
  • Unannotated Full Res (JPG), 13719 × 13719
    jpg (182.84 MB)
  • Unannotated, 2000 × 2000
    jpg (5.01 MB)
A Hubble image of globular star cluster Omega Centauri, which looks like a dense field of stars. Some stars appear a bit larger and brighter than others; most appear blue, orange, or yellow. The colors appear uniformly distributed, like grains of sand. Stars toward the cluster’s center are packed closer together, creating a more luminous area at the globular cluster’s core. A small red square frame is superimposed on the cluster near the image’s center. It connects to a square pullout in the top-right corner, which shows the outlined area in greater detail. Among the blue- and orange-colored stars is small blue-white dot highlighted by a small red circle.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images were acquired by the ACS and WFC3 instruments on Hubble. Several filters were used to sample varying 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: F275W, F336W, 435W, F438W Green: F606W, F625W Red: F814W, F658N

Related Images & Videos

Graphic of a star and its orbital path around a black hole against a dark background. The star is represented by an orange-yellow circle, and an X is labeled u201cBlack Hole.u201d A purple oval represents the staru2019s orbital path, which surrounds the black hole. The star is positioned near 12 ou2019clock along its orbital path, represented by a solid purple line that traces the tracked portion of the staru2019s orbit. After 12 ou2019clock the orbital path is represented by purple dashes. In the bottom right corner is the year 2025 in white text.

Star Orbiting Black Hole Animation

The precise data collected by NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes enabled a team of astronomers to chart the visible star’s orbital path over a 20 year-plus period.

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Details

Last Updated
Jul 13, 2026
Location
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Related Terms

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