Star Cluster Messier 55 Looks Like Bee Swarm In Photo By European Southern Observatory Telescope

By: SPACE.com Staff
Published: 05/09/2012 10:12 AM EDT on SPACE.com

SCROLL DOWN FOR HUGE PHOTO.

A ball of some of the oldest stars in the universe looks like a swarm of bees in a new view from an observatory in Chile. 

The photo, released today (May 9), was taken by a European Southern Observatory telescope and shows 100,000 stars crowded together in Messier 55, a globular star cluster located roughly 17,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius (The Archer). It is one of about 160 globular clusters orbiting the outskirts of our Milky Way galaxy.

Scientists suspect the stars in globular clusters formed from single clouds of gas that condensed to make stars around the same time, around 10 billion years ago. That makes these stars some of the most ancient known. As such, they provide valuable archaeological evidence about what the universe was like not long after the Big Bang is thought to have given rise to it.

"As this formative period was just a few billion years after the Big Bang, nearly all of the gas on hand was the simplest, lightest and most common in the cosmos: hydrogen, along with some helium and much smaller amounts of heavier chemical elements such as oxygen and nitrogen," scientists with the European Southern Observatory wrote in a statement.

Astronomers estimate the universe is about 13.7 billion years old. In contrast, our own star, the sun, formed only 4.6 billion years ago, and is made of more complex, heavier elements that were around at this later epoch.

The new image was taken at the 4.1-metre Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile's Atacama desert.

The cluster Messier 55 (also known asNGC 6809) is easily visible through a small telescope, and stretches about two-thirds the width of the full moon across the sky. It was first observed in 1752 by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, and later added by another French astronomer, Charles Messier, into his famous catalog of bright objects.

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Comments

[Holypat777]

01:49 PM on 05/10/2012

Them little twikles is reaaaaaaal purty. Uh-hlk! :)

[fordgarye]

02:08 AM on 05/10/2012

I keep hearing about the big bang and that the "universe" is 13.7 billion years old.....what existed that caused the big bang? What was there before the big bang occurred? Where does space end - is there suddenly a wall and you can't go any farther? Well, how thick is the wall and what is on the other side of it? Hmmmm? There is no way to explain time and space - one just has to realized that it is infinite and that it cannot be totally explained - perhaps parts can be but not the whole thing.

[PTerrys]

02:46 AM on 05/10/2012

Haha what?!?!

The wall you're talking about wouldn't be a wall as much as a curvature. So if you kept going forward you would eventually realize you're heading back the way you came, or in an infinite amount of other directions considering that you could also move along all 3 axes not just the 1 your path forms. That part is easy to explain. What's harder to explain is how this happens, and how far can you go before that happens.

Explaining the universe is not so difficult if you can rule things out. But, we can't most of the time.

[Jarrod Putnam]

06:57 AM on 05/10/2012

No one claims to know the answers to what you asked. That is one of the biggest question in science today. Though there are some ideas that have slivers of evidence here and there supporting them. Why do you assume that something had to occur before the big bang? The universe works in absurd ways that we cannot even fathom, and in ways that we normally wouldn't accept as the normal workings of the universe. Take Quantum Physics. Two electrons can be "entangled" to each other, meaning that if one moves up lets say, the other electron will do the exact same action. The weird thing is, that this can occur when they are any distance away, instantly. So somehow information is traveling FASTER than the speed of light...weird huh? Just an example of how the universe can sometimes slap us in the face with a "wtf" moment. As for the "edge" of the universe, there is no thing. The fabric of space time itself is expanding. It is hard to get your head around I know, but it is just like the Quantum Physics example I made. It is simply mind boggling.

[palindrom]

07:55 AM on 05/10/2012

One clarification -- in entanglement, one electron somehow knows what happened to the other, but there's no way to use this fact to transmit actual information (e.g., use it like Morse Code to send a message).

[fordgarye]

03:41 AM on 05/11/2012

Your are right - the universe does work in absurd ways - and it is absurd to think that it can be explained - parts maybe - all of it ......nope. As for the universe "expanding" - perhaps it isn't - maybe it is shrinking - it's just that from where we are looking it seems to be doing he opposite. If it's expanding - where's it expanding to? It the furtherest edge of the expansion going to run into itself somethere else?

[Emereaux]

01:44 AM on 05/10/2012

Beautiful!

[Autora]

10:26 PM on 05/09/2012

I am sorry to nitpick, but the article says the picture was from a European Southern Observatory, and then says it was taken in Chile. Chile is not in Europe.

It's a beautiful shot, very similar to one I saw recently about red and white dwarves (at least, I think that's what it was about, but it could have been something else-- I look at so many photos with chin on palm that I don't always remember.)

What beauty, and what questions! I wish I could understand it all, and wish I had the kind of brain that would have allowed me to pursue a lifetime of asking questions and looking at things like this.

In the meanwhile, totally off point: great fun for me that my birthday is May 5th, and we had that terrific moon that night. I missed it myself, but enjoyed myself enormously looking at the photos sent in from all over the world...Wow. Nature and the cosmos never fail.

[nestor69]

01:19 AM on 05/10/2012

If you know geography so well then 5 seconds to get more information would have kept you from looking so foolish.

The European Southern Observatory (ESO; formally the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere. Observatoire européen austral, in French ) is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy, supported by fifteen countries. Created in 1962, ESO has provided astronomers with state-of-the-art research facilities and access to the southern sky. The organisation employs around 730 staff members and receives annual member state contributions of approximately 143 million Euros.[1]

ESO has built and operated some of the largest and most technologically advanced telescopes in the world. These include the New Technology Telescope (NTT) that pioneered active optics technology, and the Very Large Telescope (VLT), consisting of four 8-metre class telescopes and four 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes. Currently on-going ESO projects include the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) and the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).

ALMA is a revolutionary facility for the observation of the Universe in the millimeter/submillimetre range of radiation and is the largest ground-based astronomy project in existence. Its construction is well under way, being scheduled to be completed in 2013. The ALMA project is an international collaboration between Europe (represented by ESO), East Asia, North America and the Republic of Chile.[2][3]

[Autora]

01:36 AM on 05/10/2012

Thank you for all the information, but the fact remains that the headline said these were pictures from a European Observatory, and the article states quite clearly that they came from Chile. That's kind of a big difference.

My point remains: Chile is not in Europe. Some journalist simply did not get their facts straight. It happens-- I wasn't making a big deal about it, merely pointing it out.

And yes, I do know my geography.

[Emereaux]

01:45 AM on 05/10/2012

Happy Birthday Autora!

[Autora]

11:11 AM on 05/10/2012

Thanks!

[giftoflife898]

08:22 PM on 05/09/2012

So everything that scientist thought they knew about black matter, really doesn't matter.

[psridgell]

09:19 PM on 05/09/2012

Dark matter is a theory anyway, I hear honest scientists say there is no proof of dark matter. just a theory to fill the unexplain lack of visible matter. They add dark matter to help solve mathamatical equations that are also theories.

[giftoflife898]

09:34 PM on 05/09/2012

I have read about the experimets being conducted to prove the reality of dark matter. It is quite interesting.

[palindrom]

08:04 AM on 05/10/2012

That's certainly true in a technical sense, but the indirect evidence for dark matter is extensive and varied. If we're forced back to the drawing board to explain the universe without it, it'll be pretty hard to do.

In physics, things are seldom "just" mathematics. It turns out there are deep, deep connections between the physical world and our mathematical inventions, which is why physicists simply must take math seriously.

[Jarrod Putnam]

10:02 PM on 05/09/2012

Why would this article ever show that black matter doesn't matter?

[giftoflife898]

11:13 PM on 05/09/2012

It was a joke, black matter=no matter

[giftoflife898]

08:19 PM on 05/09/2012

WOW

[Caryn Roy]

05:43 PM on 05/09/2012

hey charles i guess you did not pay attention in science class. there is more to the universe then just the moon earth and the sun. ever here of pluto neptune mars. i can go on and on just saying

[eflow35641]

05:08 PM on 05/09/2012

The evidence is piling up that we are indeed alone. They can find all the rocky earthlike planets they want, but it doesnt prove life exists anywhere else. You have 100,000 of the oldest stars and planetary systems in the universe, and not one peep from any of them after 50 yrs of radio astronomy.

[bigbe]

07:58 PM on 05/09/2012

With over a billion stars in our galaxy we would have to send a message an average of 2 stars every 3 seconds 24 hours a day 7 days a week 52 weeks a year for that 50 years in order to get them all. We then multiply by the estimated one billion galaxies and that would take 50 billion years at that rate to send to them all. Granted there might be less than an average of one planet per sun but if it does average one we would have needed to be sending one message per second for over twice the age of the universe.
In that context sending for 50 years without an answer is hardly a real indication there is no other life out there somewhere.

[Jarrod Putnam]

08:01 PM on 05/09/2012

You seem to not know much about the universe. Our radio signals have barely made it to other stars yet, let alone even out of our galaxy. 100,000 stars is literally NOTHING when it comes to quantity of stars, so it assume because nothing is broadcasting from them shows that there is no other life is simply absurd and a detrimental mindset to humans.

[Charles Spero]

04:58 PM on 05/09/2012

A smattering of light and one is supposed to be impressed? First off, the "Big Bang" never happened. And the idea that we Earthlings can estimate that the universe is 13.7 billion years old and that our sun is 4.6 billion years old is ludicrous because it's based on the premise of the "Big Myth". There's no evidence to deny that stars evolved on their own in the same manner that the alleged "Big Bang" evolved. So put away you telescopes and fix your eyes on Earth, the center of the universe. There's nothing more exciting or unique in the universe than our threesome-- Earth, moon and sun, save for we humans, animals, fish, birds, etcetera. Case closed!

[ae12wrangell]

05:03 PM on 05/09/2012

According to Neil de Grasse Tyson, it did happen.

[Charles Spero]

06:51 PM on 05/09/2012

When did he become GOD?

[davyjones2112]

05:06 PM on 05/09/2012

Wow, just imagine if every human on Earth was as dull and closed minded as you.
What a boring and unintresting world we would live in.

[Charles Spero]

06:58 PM on 05/09/2012

davy-- you're back! Just as misinformed as before! If someone has a different viewpoint you assassinate one's character. How childish! Get off your outdated bike and get a life. Here's to the "Big Bang"-- Phffttt....

[Trentonjordan]

04:52 PM on 05/09/2012

It is amazing, our Sun is a small, yellow star. Small for a star, yet it curves spacetime to the extent that it can hold bodies in orbit that are almost a light year in distance. The idea that there are stars like R136a1 that are bigger than out entire solar system is absolutely mind-boggling.

[bigbe]

08:04 PM on 05/09/2012

Have I missed something? How does the Earth hold anything in orbit that is almost a light year distance unless we have been fooled and the moon is that far away. I'm pretty sure the moon and some smaller space rocks are all thet orbit the earth. You aren't one of those people who thinks the earth is the center of the universe are you??

[giftoflife898]

08:24 PM on 05/09/2012

He said the Sun.

[Autora]

11:07 PM on 05/09/2012

You're right. I got corrected on that myself (not that particular example, but something similar) the last time I posted about astronomy.

It's not the sun and it's not the earth and it's not the moon that 'hold' each other together. I wish some of my comment friends from then would get on here to explain it, because I am really bad at it. It's the way the universe itself is set up that keeps things in orbits, not the individual stars and planets.

There is some fun stuff to look up (if you are so inclined) by Carl Sagan, explaining how differently 'shaped' universes could affect planets and stars-- this previous commenter gave me links, but I don't know how to post them.

Anyway, you are right, and of course we are not the center of the universe, laugh, and OUR influence (cosmologically speaking) is about nil.We are just running in our usual circles.

[mbrahms26]

03:56 PM on 05/09/2012

This article is an insult to the religious beliefs of the 50% of Americans who know from Genesis that the universe is only about 6,000 years old. There is no evidence for the Big Bang, which was probably conjured up by a bunch of atheist passing around "the Big Bong." See "Expelled" by Ben Stein to learn about the real agenda of science, which he proves caused the Holocaust!

[YourBrain WantsToTellYou]

04:01 PM on 05/09/2012

This post is an insult to intelligence. There is no evidence of any god. See archeological research by any respectable archeologist to learn about the real age of earth.

[Seadiver777]

09:03 PM on 05/09/2012

If there is no God then why is there anything at all?

[Jarrod Putnam]

04:12 PM on 05/09/2012

Im hoping that was a joke...

[mbrahms26]

10:18 PM on 05/09/2012

Yeah, but the number of replies and replies to replies makes it worthwhile!

[AndKoolaidForAll]

03:55 PM on 05/09/2012

How anyone could see this picture and be arrogant enough to believe life is unique to OUR world - is beyond me.

[ae12wrangell]

04:57 PM on 05/09/2012

Life DOES exist elsewhere in this universe. Where and how is beyond me. For instance; the surfaces of Jupiter, Sturn, Uranus, Neptune are mostly ammonia. Perhaps there is life on those planets, but the ONLY way they CAN survive is via ammonia (just like we need oxygen)

[AndKoolaidForAll]

05:58 PM on 05/09/2012

More likely on moons of the 'supergiants'...

http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/95806179.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0323_050323_jupitereuropa.html

[Seadiver777]

09:33 PM on 05/09/2012

Even if you had a planet identical to Earth, but with no life, it would never have life unless God created it. You can't get a living organism by chance processes. DNA and its support system (the rest of the cell) is complex enough, but worse is that the DNA must carry a huge amount of information to pass on to the next generation. Where will the information come from? Information is not a material thing, and there is no process by which matter can produce it. It only comes from intelligence.

[AndKoolaidForAll]

09:47 PM on 05/09/2012

Sorry, but I don't beilieve in your god or your universe 'with a purpose'.

[Mike Haubrich]

06:58 AM on 05/10/2012

So you say, but how do you prove something like that? What is this information of which you speak? Do you have a large enough sample size to make such a determination that DNA can only exist on our planet? If information is 'no material thing' then how do you show that no matter can produce it, or more importantly that it can influence matter? What is the causal relationship between non-material "things" and material? How complex is "too complex?" What is the barrier and how do you determine a threshold of complexity?

I get the impression that you are talking out of your buttocks, and don't have any real definitions or evidence to make your claims. Of course, you can prove me wrong.

[Dixiepopulist]

03:53 PM on 05/09/2012

What you are seeing is light that started its journey 17,000 years ago.

[hemipwr54]

03:07 PM on 05/09/2012

Love the guessing game, anyone can guess.

[ae12wrangell]

05:01 PM on 05/09/2012

And, nobody can be proven wrong! We all pass. Except thse who guess that there is life on the surface of the Sun. Impossible. 200X one's body weight on Earth - or, if you weigh 150 lbs. here, you will weigh 30,000 lbs. on the Sun.

[palindrom]

08:27 AM on 05/10/2012

The gravity wouldn't bother, say, a bacterium, I suppose --- but it is a tad warm there.

[brettford]

01:07 PM on 05/10/2012

in hemipwr54's mind, all guesses carry equal merit and validity regardless of how informed they are or the amount of research and evidence they have backing them. (I've encountered him on other threads) Everything to him is merely conjecture and of equal likelihood, and if we take this premise to be true, then everything you, he or anybody else says is equally likely and pointless. He will eventually declare his own victory in the debate and hit you with some ad hominem attacks, but by his own definition, that declaration amounts to merely a guess, based on speculation. There's no use in listening to anything he says.

[grappler1987]

01:57 PM on 05/09/2012

"A ball of some of the oldest stars in the universe looks like a swarm of bees in a new view from an observatory in Chile."

Hmm ... SETI should focus on that "ball".

[thosholzel]

04:51 PM on 05/09/2012

SETI should get rid of astronomers posing as biolgists--as if those celestial mechanics know the first thing about life. Want to learn about the beginning of sentient life? Read "Rare Earth" by Ward & Brownlee.

[grappler1987]

05:02 PM on 05/09/2012

I think SETI's lack of results illustrates the rarity of intelligent life.