Starstruck on a Saturday 🤩

 

Located 35,000 light-years away from Earth lies this globular cluster in the constellation Scorpio. Globular clusters are spherical groups of stars held together by gravity; they often contain some of the oldest stars in their galaxies.

As spotted in this image from our @NASAHubble Space Telescope, this cluster in particular has been discovered and rediscovered throughout time and has been known by many names. Originally discovered by James Dunlop in 1826, it was rediscovered 8 years later in 1834, and again in 1959. Nowadays, this cluster is reliably recognized in widely available catalogues.
And here’s the Hubble update we’ve been waiting for: all instruments on our #Hubble Space Telescope are now in operational status, and science data is once again being collected to further our understanding of the universe! 💫