The stellar density is so low that HST can literally see right through the cluster and resolve far more distant background galaxies. If there were lower mass stars in the cluster, then the image would contain an estimated 500 stars. This observation provides new insights into star formation in our Galaxy. Left A ground-based sky survey photograph of the globular cluster NGC 6397, one of the nearest and densest agglomerations of stars to Earth. The cluster is located 7,200 light-years away in the southern constellation Ara, and is one of 150 such objects which orbit our Milky Way Galaxy.
Globular clusters are ideal laboratories for studying the formation and evolution of stars.