Omega Centauri: The Largest and Brightest Star Cluster
12 billion years old, Omega Centauri (NGC 5139) is a globular cluster that is both the brightest and the largest known globular cluster associated with our galaxy.
It was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1677 (of Halley’s comet fame) although was earlier listed in Ptolemy’s Catalog of the Stars over 2000 years ago as a star. It was first recognized as a globular cluster by the English astronomer John William Herschelin in the 19th century.
Long a source of interest for astronomers, Omega Centauri has naturally also gained plenty of interest from NASA.
Here’s a few more shots of this amazing feature of the galaxy from a variety of telescopes.
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About the Author
Duncan Riley Editor & Publisher Duncan Riley started blogging in 2003 after a career of management and Government service. In 2003 he started the Blog Herald, the first blog to cover the then new industry of blogging. In 2005 he was one of the three founders of b5media After a 12 month stint at TechCrunch, writing as the No.2 to Michael Arrington, Duncan left to found The Inquisitr and now runs both Medacity and fortytwotimes. Follow on Twitter at: duncanriley
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