What is the approximate angular size of Omega Centauri?
NGC 5139 or Caldwell 80 (also known as the Omega Centauri) is a globular cluster in the constellation Centaurus. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.6 and its angular diameter is 36 arc-minutes.
Is Omega Centauri a Messier object?
Omega Centauri (NGC 5139), the most impressive globular cluster up there, turning pale the even memorable Messier 13, shows here all of its spectacular and thrilling beauty.
How close are stars in Omega Centauri?
Stars pack so tightly inside Omega Centauri that the average distance between stars in the cluster’s core is 0.16 light-years, much closer than the sun’s nearest neighbor, Proxima Centauri, at 4.25 light-years.
How far away is Omega Centauri from Earth?
15,790 light yearsOmega Centauri / Distance to Earth
Is there a black hole in Omega Centauri?
Astronomers have found evidence for a medium- size black hole at the core of Omega Centauri, one of the largest and most massive globular star clusters orbiting our Milky Way Galaxy. The intermediate-mass black hole is estimated to be roughly 40,000 times the mass of the Sun.
How many stars does Omega Centauri have?
10 million stars
Globular star cluster Omega Centauri, also known as NGC 5139, is some 15,000 light-years away. The cluster is packed with about 10 million stars much older than the Sun within a volume about 150 light-years in diameter.
Who Found Omega Centauri?
The ancient astronomer Ptolemy thought Omega Centauri was a star, and Edmond Halley identified it as a nebula in 1677. In the 1830s, John Herschel identified it as a globular star cluster orbiting our Milky Way galaxy.
Is there life in Omega Centauri?
No life in the Omega Centauri system, scientists say.
What is at the Centre of the Sombrero Galaxy?
The Sombrero Galaxy has a supermassive black hole in its center. The patterns of star movements near the black hole suggest that it could have the same mass as a billion of our suns. Researchers believe that the Sombrero’s black hole is the most massive of any that has been found at the heart of a galaxy.
Is Omega Centauri a galaxy?
Omega Centauri contains approximately 10 million stars and is about 16,000 light-years away. This suggests that Omega Centauri may actually be a dwarf galaxy that has been stripped of its outer stars and not a globular cluster after all.
Who discovered the Omega Centauri?
What is the brightest star cluster?
The brightest globular cluster in the northern hemisphere is M13 in the constellation of Hercules.