M72: A Globular Cluster of Stars
Globular clusters once ruled the
Milky Way.
Back in the old days, back when our Galaxy first formed, perhaps thousands of globular clusters roamed
our Galaxy.
Today, there are less than 200 left.
Many globular clusters were destroyed over the eons by repeated fateful encounters with each other or the Galactic center.
Surviving relics are older than any
Earth fossil,
older than any other structures in our Galaxy,
and limit the universe itself in raw age.
There are few, if any, young globular clusters in our
Milky Way Galaxy
because conditions are not ripe for more to form.
Pictured above
by the Hubble Space Telescope are about 100,000 of
M72's stars.
M72,
which spans about 50 light years and lies about 50,000 light years away,
can be seen with a small telescope toward the
constellation
of the Water Bearer (Aquarius).