A new image taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope not only shows a beautifully brilliant diamond-like cluster of stars, but also solves a mystery about just how old that particular group of stars really is.
The image depicts globular star cluster IC 4499, which is over 50,000 light years away from Earth and sits on the outer edge of the Milky Way galaxy.
A globular star cluster is a group of old stars that orbit their galaxy. Once scientists thought that all the stars in a cluster were the same age, but new research indicates that most large clusters have stars of varying ages because of their gravity which draws in more material, meaning that they can create new groups of stars at any given time.
The mass of IC 4499 suggests that its cluster is one of the smaller ones, which means that instead of multi generations of stars, it probably contains just a single generation. Astronomers previously believed that the stars in this cluster were relatively young, in comparison to larger clusters which have stars as old as 12 billion years.
However, thanks to this image and new data from Hubble, astronomers now believe this grouping of stars is just as old as its neighboring clusters. That means it's ancient, especially when you consider that the Earth's sun is only about 4.6 billion years old.
The Hubble Space Telescope launched in 1990, and although it's nearly 25 years old, it's still uncovering some of the mysteries of the cosmos. Not only did it recently discover a "zombie star" left over after a supernova, but it's also given us a better look at certain exoplanets, those planets that exist outside our solar system. Hubble's data has even helped us learn more about the birth of the Universe.
The Hubble's equipment includes a large 8-foot mirror, as well as instruments that measure ultraviolet, visible and near infrared light. Because it exists outside Earth's atmosphere, its images are crisp and clear because there's no background light diffusing them. Hubble is also the only telescope off-Earth designed for servicing in space by astronauts.
You can view other images taken by Hubble on the telescope's official website.
