Sunny Priyan
Like snowflakes, the stars of the globular cluster NGC 6441 sparkle peacefully in the night sky, about 13,000 light-years from the Milky Way's galactic center.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, G. Piotto
Like snowflakes, the exact number of stars in such a cluster is difficult to discern.
Image Credit: Pixabay
It is estimated that together the stars weigh 1.6 million times the mass of the Sun.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, G. Piotto
This makes NGC 6441 one of the most massive and luminous globular clusters in the Milky Way.
Image Credit: Pixabay
There are about 150 known globular clusters in the Milky Way.
Image Credit: Pixabay
Globular clusters contain some of the first stars to be produced in a galaxy, but the details of their origins and evolution still elude astronomers.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, G. Piotto