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Hubble reveals NGC 362, a young globular cluster

Globular clusters offer some of the most spectacular sights in the night sky. These ornate spheres contain hundreds of thousands of stars, and reside in the outskirts of galaxies. The Milky Way contains over 150 such clusters — and the example shown in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, named NGC 362, is one of the most unusual ones.

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Hubble reveals a galaxy fit to burst

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the vibrant core of the galaxy NGC 3125, approximately 50 million light-years away. Discovered by John Herschel in 1835, NGC 3125 is a great example of a starburst galaxy — a galaxy in which unusually high numbers of new stars are forming, springing to life within intensely hot clouds of gas.

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Globular clusters make new stars by ‘adopting’ stray cosmic gases

An international research team of astronomers has, for the first time, found young populations of stars within globular clusters that have apparently developed courtesy of star-forming gas flowing in from outside of the clusters themselves. This method stands in contrast to the conventional idea of the clusters’ initial stars shedding gas as they age in order to spark future rounds of star birth.

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A galactic mega-merger

The subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is known as NGC 3597. It is the product of a collision between two good-sized galaxies, and is slowly evolving to become a giant elliptical galaxy. This type of galaxy has grown more and more common as the universe has evolved, with initially small galaxies merging and progressively building up into larger galactic structures over time.

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Strange globular cluster recalls Milky Way’s infancy

When our galaxy was born, around 13,000 million years ago, a plethora of clusters containing millions of stars emerged. But over time, they have been disappearing. However, hidden behind younger stars that formed later, some old and dying star clusters remain, such as the so-called E 3. European astronomers have now studied this testimony to the beginnings of our galaxy.

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Fossil globular star clusters reveal their age

Using a new age-dating method and the W. M. Keck Observatory, an international team of astronomers have determined that globular star clusters formed in two distinct epochs — 12.5 and 11.5 billion years ago. They formed alongside galaxies, rather than prior to galaxies, as previously thought.