Fornax galaxy with four globular clusters marked
Date: 19 November 2014
Satellite: Hubble Space Telescope
Depicts: Fornax 1, Fornax 2, Fornax 3, Fornax 5, Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal (Galaxy)
Copyright: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2
This is a Digitized Sky Survey 2 image of the dwarf galaxy Fornax. Highlighted here are four globular clusters found in the galaxy called Fornax 1, 2, 3 and 5.
New observations of the four clusters – large balls of stars that orbit the centres of galaxies – show they are very similar to those found in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The finding is at odds with leading theories on how these clusters form – in these theories, globular clusters should be nestled among large quantities of old stars – and so the mystery of how these objects came to exist deepens.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
