Too Close for Comfort
This Hubble Space Telescope view of the core of one of the nearest globular star clusters, called NGC 6397, resembles a treasure chest of glittering jewels. The cluster is located 8,200 light-years away in the constellation Ara.
Here, the stars are jam-packed together. The stellar density is about a million times greater than in our Sun's stellar neighborhood. The stars are only a few light-weeks apart, while the nearest star to our Sun is over four light-years away.
Credit:
About the Image
NASA press release
NASA caption
NASA caption
| Id: | opo0321a |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 7 August 2003, 15:00 |
| Size: | 2500 x 2566 px |
About the Object
| Name: | NGC 6397 |
| Type: | • Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular • Star Clusters Images/Videos |
| Distance: | 9000 light years |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Ultraviolet U |
336 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical V |
606 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Infrared I |
814 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
