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Globular cluster: Quick Facts

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Photos

Dense cluster of thousands of stars forming a bright, spherical shape in the night sky, representing globular cluster M13.
Diagram showing the side view outline of the Milky Way Galaxy with yellow dots representing the distribution of globular star clusters surrounding the galactic disk, and a cross marking the Sun's position.
globular cluster M80
Centre of star cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104), showing the colours of various stars.Most of the brightest stars are older yellow stars, but a few young blue stars are also visible. This picture is a composite of three images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
A Hertzsprung-Russell diagram plots absolute visual magnitude against color index for Population II stars in a globular cluster, highlighting regions for horizontal branch, red giants, lower main sequence, blue stragglers, and the RR Lyrae gap. Spectral classes B through M are marked along the top axis.
Globular cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104).
M3, globular cluster
White dwarf stars (circled) in globular cluster M4.The brightest stars in this field are yellow stars similar to the Sun; smaller, dim stars are red dwarfs.
M13, globular cluster
Centre of star cluster M15, as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.
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Key People

Arthur Stanley Eddington.
Arthur Eddington
British scientist
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Harlow Shapley
American astronomer
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Charles Messier
French astronomer

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Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.
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