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Our universe is expanding and is not just a lot of celestial objects in one place for ever. I have set myself a learning challenge to investigate and better understand the Globular Cluster "Tuc 47" which has become one of my favourite night sky features.
Our universe is expanding and is not just a lot of celestial objects in one place for ever. I have set myself a learning challenge to investigate and better understand the Globular Cluster "Tuc 47" which has become one of my favourite night sky features.
Astronomy” is an exciting and stimulating leisure pastime freely available. It’s well known that I can’t see much because of limited eyesight. Others get excited at what they manage to see where as I get a thrill out of reflecting on and conceptualising the vastness of an ever changing cosmos.
Astronomy” is an exciting and stimulating leisure pastime freely available. It’s well known that I can’t see much because of limited eyesight. Others get excited at what they manage to see where as I get a thrill out of reflecting on and conceptualising the vastness of an ever changing cosmos.
There was an article published in one of our major news papers the Dominion Post titled “Big Picture – Small Feeling” which illustrated the notion of some “84 million suns” visible in the Milky Way. I don’t have the advantage of a telescope with a 4.1 Meter mirror such as in Chilies Vista scope so I go in search of credible peer acknowledged information to fill the void between my ears. We know the Milky Way, to be a large, disc-shaped galaxy, or aggregation of stars, including the Sun and its solar system. Imagine 84 Million suns ! I’m told the stars we see in the sky are those in the Milky Way galaxy which are sufficiently close to the solar system to be discerned separately. Astronomers have described The Milky Way as “a large spiral galaxy, with arms radiating from the ends of a central bar some 30,000 light years long, which passes through a central bulge about 10,000 light years thick. The Milky Way contains many fascinating Phenomena such as globular clusters. I’m intrigued by the Radiation seemingly emitted from the central region which has been recorded by such devices as photoelectric cells, infrared filters, and radio telescopes. From a fixed point here on planet earth we understand the Milky Way rotates around an axis joining its galactic poles. What I’m trying to think through is the continual rotation and change which takes place over some 200 million years. The speed of the solar system due to the galactic rotation is about 270 km/s (170 mi/s).
There was an article published in one of our major news papers the Dominion Post titled “Big Picture – Small Feeling” which illustrated the notion of some “84 million suns” visible in the Milky Way. I don’t have the advantage of a telescope with a 4.1 Meter mirror such as in Chilies Vista scope so I go in search of credible peer acknowledged information to fill the void between my ears. We know the Milky Way, to be a large, disc-shaped galaxy, or aggregation of stars, including the Sun and its solar system. Imagine 84 Million suns ! I’m told the stars we see in the sky are those in the Milky Way galaxy which are sufficiently close to the solar system to be discerned separately. Astronomers have described The Milky Way as “a large spiral galaxy, with arms radiating from the ends of a central bar some 30,000 light years long, which passes through a central bulge about 10,000 light years thick. The Milky Way contains many fascinating Phenomena such as globular clusters. I’m intrigued by the Radiation seemingly emitted from the central region which has been recorded by such devices as photoelectric cells, infrared filters, and radio telescopes. From a fixed point here on planet earth we understand the Milky Way rotates around an axis joining its galactic poles. What I’m trying to think through is the continual rotation and change which takes place over some 200 million years. The speed of the solar system due to the galactic rotation is about 270 km/s (170 mi/s).
For me one of the Sky's Best Globular clusters is 47 Tucamae. It's not the brightest, or biggest, but it sure catches the imagination. 47 Tucanae lies deep in our southern skies and is something everyone should see through a telescope at least once in a lifetime. 47 Tucanae is one of the most massive globular clusters in the Galaxy, containing millions of stars.
For me one of the Sky's Best Globular clusters is 47 Tucamae. It's not the brightest, or biggest, but it sure catches the imagination. 47 Tucanae lies deep in our southern skies and is something everyone should see through a telescope at least once in a lifetime. 47 Tucanae is one of the most massive globular clusters in the Galaxy, containing millions of stars.
Tuc 47 Image (c) Stephen Chadwick - 2013
Also known as “NGC 104” or just 47 Tuc this globular cluster is located in the constellation Tucana and about 16,700 light years away from Earth and some 120 light years across. The cluster is said to appear roughly the size of the full moon in the sky under ideal conditions.
Also known as “NGC 104” or just 47 Tuc this globular cluster is located in the constellation Tucana and about 16,700 light years away from Earth and some 120 light years across. The cluster is said to appear roughly the size of the full moon in the sky under ideal conditions.
Its the second brightest globular cluster in the sky (after Omega Centauri), and is noted for having a very bright and dense core. It is also one of the most massive globular clusters in the Galaxy, containing millions of stars. It has a dense core which contains a number of exotic stars of scientific interest. Globular Cluster’s are groupings of old stars. They contain anywhere between 100,000 and 10 million stars, and have diameters of around 100 light years. The two brightest examples, visible to the naked eye, lie in the southern sky: Omega Centauri and 47 Tucanae. Stars are tightly packed in globular clusters. At their centres the concentration of stars can be 100,000 times greater than in our region of space, as seen from planet Earth. One thought comes to mind and that has to do with ‘Visibility.... do we actually see what we think or are Optical illusion a more significant consideration. “When observing Globular clusters such as Tuc 47, we can get the impression that things merge. There are about 140 known globular clusters in our galaxy, and a few more may be obscured from view by clouds of gas and dust. At some stage late in the life of a globular cluster, the stars at its centre move closer together in a phenomenon known as core collapse. This can lead to densities 100 times greater than at the centre of normal globular clusters-that is, about 30,000 stars per cubic light year, as against 3 stars per thousand cubic light years in the region of the Sun.”
Its the second brightest globular cluster in the sky (after Omega Centauri), and is noted for having a very bright and dense core. It is also one of the most massive globular clusters in the Galaxy, containing millions of stars. It has a dense core which contains a number of exotic stars of scientific interest. Globular Cluster’s are groupings of old stars. They contain anywhere between 100,000 and 10 million stars, and have diameters of around 100 light years. The two brightest examples, visible to the naked eye, lie in the southern sky: Omega Centauri and 47 Tucanae. Stars are tightly packed in globular clusters. At their centres the concentration of stars can be 100,000 times greater than in our region of space, as seen from planet Earth. One thought comes to mind and that has to do with ‘Visibility.... do we actually see what we think or are Optical illusion a more significant consideration. “When observing Globular clusters such as Tuc 47, we can get the impression that things merge. There are about 140 known globular clusters in our galaxy, and a few more may be obscured from view by clouds of gas and dust. At some stage late in the life of a globular cluster, the stars at its centre move closer together in a phenomenon known as core collapse. This can lead to densities 100 times greater than at the centre of normal globular clusters-that is, about 30,000 stars per cubic light year, as against 3 stars per thousand cubic light years in the region of the Sun.”
REFERENCE:- Dr Ian Ridpath "Globular Cluster", Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2001
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