#messier 30

[quiltofstars]

The Jellyfish Cluster, M30 // Jeff Fishman

[chibinotan]

Renewed Stars

[quiltofstars]

M30 // wsg

[quiltofstars]

The Jellyfish Cluster, M30 // wsg

The Jellyfish Cluster is not often observed by northern latitude observers as it rarely rises above the southern horizon. Despite that, we know much about this globular cluster. This cluster is thought to have undergone core collapse and now has a lot of stars concentrated at its center.

This process has inadvertently created a color gradient of stars increasing in blueness towards the center. This caused Admiral William Smyth (1788-1865) to wax poetic when he observed it:

"Here are materials for thinking! What an immensity of space is indicated! Can such an arrangement be intended, as a bungling spouter of the hour insists, for a mere appendage to the speck of a world on which we dwell, to soften the darkness of its petty midnight? This is impeaching the intelligence of Infinite Wisdom and Power, in adapting such grand means to so disproportionate an end. No imagination can fill up the picture of which the visual organs afford the dim outline; and he who confidently probes the Eternal Design cannot be many removes from lunacy."

[quiltofstars]

M30 // Dionysus

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M30 // Pulsar59

[brightestofcentaurus]

Messier 30

Messier 30 is a globular star cluster located about 28,000 light years away. It is about 90 light years across, and formed around 13 billion years ago. Globular star clusters are groups of hundreds of thousands of stars, held together by gravity.

Most globular clusters contain older stars, but sometimes the density of the cluster allows some to rejuvenate. Sometimes in binary systems, a more massive star will absorb material from a smaller companion, allowing the larger star to live longer. Blue stragglers, as they're called, can also form from collisions of stars.

Image from ESA, information from ESA, Messier, and NASA.

[theuniverseatlarge]

Messier 30 - Globular Cluster in Capricornus

M30, discovered by Charles Messier in 1764, is a notable globular cluster because it is observed to follow an opposite to most (or retrograde) motion. This is thought to be explained by M30 being a captured body from a satellite galaxy which was absorbed by the Milky Way (our galaxy). In general, most globular clusters are ancient remains from a previous state of our galaxy, as it contracted into its present disk-like shape. M30 has also undergone a core collapse, meaning that the density of stellar matter at the centre is much greater than normal, making it one of the most compact regions in the galaxy.

Top: Wide-Field - Palomar Observatory

Bottom: Close-Up - NASA/Hubble