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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

Globular Cluster M15

Explanation: Stars, like bees, swarm around the center of bright globular cluster M15. This ball of over 100,000 stars is a relic from the early years of our Galaxy , and continues to orbit the Milky Way's center . M15 , one of about 150 globular clusters remaining, is noted for being easily visible with only binoculars , having at its center one of the densest concentrations of stars known, and containing a high abundance of unusual variable stars and pulsars . The above image , taken in ultraviolet light with the WIYN Telescope , spans about 120 light years and shows the gradual increase in stars toward the cluster's center. M15 lies about 35,000 light years away toward the constellation of Pegasus . Recent evidence indicates that a massive black hole might reside as the center of M15 .

Date December 10, 2001
Credit Credit: Haldan Cohn ( Indiana U. ) et al., WIYN , NOAO , NSF
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.