Hubble spies ancient ‘Chandelier Cluster’ forming stars in two bursts

Today’s NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image showcases a globular cluster, which is a collection of tens of thousands to millions of stars held together by gravity. While there are over 150 known globular clusters in our galaxy, some may remain undiscovered due to dust or dense star fields.

The subject of today’s NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is an ancient inhabitant of our galaxy. This sparkling scene features a globular cluster: a collection of tens of thousands to millions of stars, all tightly bound together under the influence of gravity. There are more than 150 globular clusters in our galaxy, though there may be others still undiscovered, hidden from view by dust or densely packed fields of stars.