Globular Star Cluster NGC 6355 from Hubble
			
		
		
		
			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. 
Over the eons, 
many globular clusters were destroyed 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 left in our 
Milky Way Galaxy because 
conditions are not ripe for more to form.
The featured image shows a Hubble Space Telescope view of 13-billion
year old 
NGC 6355, a surviving globular cluster 
currently passing near the 
Milky Way's center. 
Globular cluster stars are 
concentrated toward the image center and 
highlighted by bright blue stars.
Most other stars in the frame are dimmer, redder, and just coincidently
lie near the direction to 
NGC 6355.