Globular Cluster

stars · gravity · space · ancient

Millions of stars. Globular clusters can hold anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of stars all bound together by gravity in one tight ball. That's like having a city made entirely of suns!

Dense at the center. The closer you get to the middle of a globular cluster, the more stars you find packed together. The center is so crowded with stars that if you lived there, the night sky would be completely full of bright points of light.

Shaped like a sphere. These star clusters are round and bulbous, like cosmic balls floating through space. The name 'globular' actually comes from the Latin word for small ball.

Ancient star groups. Globular clusters are among the oldest objects in our galaxy, with stars that formed billions of years ago. They orbit around the center of galaxies like bees around a hive.

Hard to tell apart. Globular clusters look so much like small galaxies called dwarf spheroidals that scientists had trouble telling the difference. As more discoveries were made, people realized these two types of objects can be surprisingly similar.