Nebulae & clusters · Globular star cluster
Omega Centauri
17,000 light-years · Light crosses it in 150 years
- Across
- 150 light-years
- Vs Earth
- 150 light-years across
- Mass
- 4.0 million Suns
Open Omega Centauri in Cosmic Scale
In the app, Omega Centauri is part of the Beyond pack.
About
Omega Centauri is the largest globular cluster orbiting the Milky Way: around ten million ancient stars in a ball 150 light-years across. Its stars are not all the same age, which suggests it is the stripped core of a small galaxy the Milky Way swallowed.
About ten million stars packed into a ball 150 light-years across.
At a glance
| Distance | 17,000 light-years |
|---|---|
| Stars | About 10 million |
| Age | Around 12 billion years |
| Catalogued | 1677, Edmond Halley |
Did you know
- Near its centre stars are packed so closely that they sit only a tenth of a light-year apart.
- Evidence published in 2024 points to an intermediate-mass black hole hiding in its core.
- It is bright enough to look like a fuzzy star to the naked eye from the southern hemisphere.
Real photo
- Omega Centauri's millions of stars, Hubble — ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Häberle (MPIA) (CC BY 4.0) · source