{"id":625384,"date":"2024-03-01T12:44:11","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T17:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?post_type=image-article&p=625384"},"modified":"2024-03-01T12:44:12","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T17:44:12","slug":"hubble-uncovers-a-celestial-fossil","status":"publish","type":"image-article","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/hubble-uncovers-a-celestial-fossil\/","title":{"rendered":"Hubble Uncovers a Celestial Fossil"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-fit \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1596\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?w=2048\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"A cluster of stars. Most of the stars are very small and uniform in size, and they are notably bluish and cluster more densely together toward the center of the image. Some appear larger in the foreground. The stars give away to a dark background at the corners of the image.\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg 3909w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?resize=300,234 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?resize=768,598 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?resize=1024,798 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?resize=1536,1197 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?resize=2048,1596 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?resize=400,312 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?resize=600,468 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?resize=900,701 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?resize=1200,935 1200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?resize=2000,1558 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-credits\">ESA\/Hubble & NASA, A. Sarajedini<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>This densely populated group of stars is the globular cluster NGC 1841, which is part of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way galaxy that lies about 162,000 light-years away. Satellite galaxies are bound by gravity in orbits around a more massive host galaxy. We typically think of the Andromeda Galaxy as our galaxy\u2019s nearest galactic companion, but it is more accurate to say that Andromeda is the nearest galaxy that is not in orbit around the Milky Way galaxy. In fact, dozens of satellite galaxies orbit our galaxy and they are far closer than Andromeda. The largest and brightest of these is the LMC, which is easily visible to the unaided eye from the southern hemisphere under dark sky conditions away from light pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The LMC is home to many globular clusters. These celestial bodies fall somewhere between open clusters \u2013 which are much less dense and tightly bound \u2013 and small, compact galaxies. Increasingly sophisticated observations reveal the stellar populations and characteristics of globular clusters are varied and complex, and we have yet to fully understand how these tightly packed groups of stars form. However, there are certain consistencies across all globular clusters: they are very stable and hold their shape for a long time, which means they are generally very old and contain large numbers of very old stars. Globular clusters are akin to celestial \u2018fossils.\u2019 Just as fossils provide insight into the early development of life on Earth, globular clusters such as NGC 1841 can provide insights into very early star formation in galaxies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Media Contact:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Claire Andreoli<\/em><\/strong><br><strong><em>NASA’s <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/goddard\"><strong><em>Goddard Space Flight Center<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, <strong><em>Greenbelt, MD<\/em><\/strong><br><a href=\"mailto:claire.andreoli@nasa.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em>claire.andreoli@nasa.gov<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This densely populated group of stars is the globular cluster NGC 1841, which is part of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way galaxy that lies about 162,000 light-years away. Satellite galaxies are bound by gravity in orbits around a more massive host galaxy. We typically think of the Andromeda [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":219,"featured_media":625380,"template":"","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[]},"categories":[],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[],"coauthors":[10473],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Hubble Uncovers a Celestial Fossil","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/hubble-uncovers-a-celestial-fossil\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/hubble-uncovers-a-celestial-fossil\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg"},"articleSection":"General","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Zajac"}],"creator":["Michelle Zajac"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2024-03-01T17:44:11Z","datePublished":"2024-03-01T17:44:11Z","dateModified":"2024-03-01T17:44:12Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Hubble Uncovers a Celestial Fossil\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/hubble-uncovers-a-celestial-fossil\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2024-03-01T17:44:11Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"General\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Michelle Zajac\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":2,"featured_image":{"id":625380,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/hubble-ngc1841-potw2409a.jpg","title":"Hubble Uncovers a Celestial Fossil","alt":"A cluster of stars. Most of the stars are very small and uniform in size, and they are notably bluish and cluster more densely together toward the center of the image. Some appear larger in the foreground. The stars give away to a dark background at the corners of the image.","caption":"This densely populated group of stars is the globular cluster NGC 1841, which is part of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way galaxy that lies about 162,000 light-years away. Satellite galaxies are bound by gravity in orbits around a more massive host galaxy. We typically think of the Andromeda Galaxy as our galaxy\u2019s nearest galactic companion, but it is more accurate to say that Andromeda is the nearest galaxy that is not in orbit around the Milky Way galaxy. In fact, dozens of satellite galaxies orbit our galaxy and they are far closer than Andromeda. The largest and brightest of these is the LMC, which is easily visible to the unaided eye from the southern hemisphere under dark sky conditions away from light pollution."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/image-article\/625384"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/image-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/image-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/219"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/image-article\/625384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":625388,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/image-article\/625384\/revisions\/625388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625384"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=625384"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=625384"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=625384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}