NGC 6397
Depicts: NGC 6397
Copyright: F. Paresce, ST ScI & ESA and NASA
A ground-based sky survey photograph of the globular cluster NGC 6397, one of the nearest and densest agglomerations of stars to Earth. The cluster is located 7,200 light-years away in the southern constellation Ara, and is one of 150 such objects which orbit our Milky Way Galaxy.
Right Image
A Hubble Space Telescope image of a small region (1.4 light-years across) in the globular star cluster NGC 6397 shows far fewer stars than would be expected in faint red dwarf stars were abundant. HST resolves about 200 stars. The stellar density is so low that HST can literally see right through the cluster and resolve far more distant background galaxies.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
