Unusual Flashes Toward Globular Cluster M22
			
		
		
		
			What is causing the unusual flashes behind globular cluster M22?  
This teeming ball of stars is the brightest 
globular cluster 
visible from Earth's northern hemisphere.  
M22, shown in full in the inset, spans about 50 
light-years and lies 8,500 light-years away toward the constellation of 
Sagittarius.  
M22's center was 
recently imaged repeatedly by the high resolution 
Hubble Space Telescope.  
Behind M22 are many more stars near the 
center of our Galaxy.  
Unexpectedly, several stars 
near the Galactic center 
-- well behind 
M22 -- appeared to nearly double in 
brightness and return to normal within 20 hours.  
One hypothesis posed to explain these quick brightness changes is the 
gravitational lens effect 
of large planets roaming freely in the cluster.  
One problem with this is that no such
planetary population was previously known!  
Future observations are planned to better 
understand these mysterious flashes.