Hercules Cluster

Hercules Cluster — star cluster, shown live in Cosmoscope, a real-time 3D map of the universe.

A third of a million ancient stars packed into a ball — some nearly as old as the universe itself, orbiting the galaxy far above its disc.

Type
Globular cluster
Distance
22,200 light-years
Stars
~300,000
Age
~11.6 billion years
Note
Target of the 1974 Arecibo message

Seeing Hercules Cluster in real time

Hercules Cluster is placed at its true position on the sky and at its real measured distance, not as a flat backdrop. Fly out from the Sun in the live 3D view and watch it change from a point of light into structure as you approach, with the scale bar showing just how far out you have travelled.

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