Concentration of Small Black Holes discovered in cluster NGC 6397

The astronomers have discovered a concentration of smaller black holes in the cluster NGC 6397. Small black holes were discovered instead of one massive black hole at the heart of the cluster.

Key facts

• The Globular clusters are a dense stellar system that host the closely packed stars.
• Such systems are typically very old. For instance, the cluster NGC 6397 is as old as the universe.
• NGC 6397 cluster is located around 7,800 light-years away.
• Thus, it I one of the closest globular clusters to the Planet Earth.
• This cluster is also known as Core-Collapsed Cluster because of its very dense nucleus.
• The precise measurement of the stars in the cluster’s core was made with the Hubble Space Telescope.

NGC 6397

The cluster is also known as Caldwell 86. It is a globular cluster lying in the constellation Ara. The cluster is located around 7,800 light-years from Earth.  It comprises of around 400,000 stars. The cluster can be observed with naked eye under the good observing conditions. This cluster is one among the at least 20 globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy which has gone through the core collapse. Core collapse means the core has contracted to a dense stellar agglomeration.

Milky Way

It is the galaxy comprising of our Solar System. It is a hazy band of light that can be seen in the night sky. It is formed from stars and cannot be individually distinguished with the naked eye. It appears as a band when seen from earth because its disk-shaped structure.  The first person to revolve around the band of light was Galileo Galilei. He moved around the individual stars with his telescope in the year 1610.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2021