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City of Stars - 47 Tucanae


Depicts: 47 Tucanae, NGC 104
Copyright: Ron Gilliland (Space Telescope Science Institute), David Malin (Anglo-Australian Observatory) and NASA

In these pictures, a "city" of a million stars glitters like a New York City skyline. The images capture the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, located 15,000 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Tucana.

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers went hunting in this large city for planetary companions: bloated gaseous planets that snuggle close to their parent stars, completing an orbit in a quick three to five days. To their surprise, they found none. This finding suggests that the cluster's environment is too hostile for breeding planets or that it lacks the necessary elements for making them.

Last Update: 1 September 2019
15-Mar-2026 11:18 UT

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