                  APOD: 2017 November 4 - Hubble s Messier 5

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2017 November 4
                                      [2]
                              Hubble's Messier 5
                  Image Credit: HST [3] , ESA [4] , NASA [5]

Explanation: "Beautiful Nebula discovered between the Balance [Libra] & the
Serpent [Serpens] ..." begins the description of the 5th entry [6] in 18th
century astronomer Charles Messier's famous catalog of nebulae and star
clusters. Though it appeared to Messier [7]  to be fuzzy and round and without
stars, Messier 5 [8]  (M5) is now known to be a globular star cluster, 100,000
stars or more, bound by gravity and packed into a region around 165
light-years in diameter. It lies some 25,000 light-years away. Roaming the
halo of our galaxy [9] , globular star clusters are ancient members of the
Milky Way. M5 is one of the oldest globulars, its stars estimated to be nearly
13 billion years old. The beautiful star cluster is a popular target for
Earthbound telescopes [10] . Of course, deployed in low Earth orbit on April
25, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope [11] has also captured its own stunning
close-up view [12]  that spans about 20 light-years across the central region
of M5. Even close to its dense core [13]  the cluster's aging red and blue
[14]  giant stars and rejuvenated [15] blue stragglers [16]  stand out in
yellow and blue hues in the sharp color image.

                      Tomorrow's picture: moon year [17]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
< [18] | Archive [19] | Submissions [20] | Index [21] | Search [22] | Calendar
  [23] | RSS [24] | Education [25] | About APOD [26] | Discuss [27] | > [28]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [29] (MTU [30] ) & Jerry Bonnell [31]
                                  (UMCP [32] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [33] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [34]
              A service of: ASD [35]  at NASA [36]  / GSFC [37]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [38]
----------
Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1711/m5_hubblesmessier.jpg
  [3] http://www.hubblesite.org/
  [4] http://www.esa.int/
  [5] http://www.nasa.gov/
  [6] http://messier.seds.org/Mdes/dm005.html
  [7] http://messier.seds.org/xtra/history/m-deep.html
  [8] http://messier.seds.org/m/m005.html
  [9] http://cass.ucsd.edu/archive/public/tutorial/MW.html
  [10] http://earthsky.org/clusters-nebulae-galaxies/
m5-best-globular-cluster-for-small-telescopes
  [11] https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/ hubble-s-messier-catalog
  [12] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/messier-5
  [13] ap031213.html
  [14] ap010223.html
  [15] http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0605047
  [16] http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0918b/
  [17] ap171105.html
  [18] ap171103.html
  [19] archivepix.html
  [20] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [21] lib/aptree.html
  [22] http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [23] calendar/allyears.html
  [24] /apod.rss
  [25] lib/edlinks.html
  [26] lib/about_apod.html
  [27] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=171104
  [28] ap171105.html
  [29] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [30] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [31] http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [32] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [33] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [34] http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [35] http://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [36] http://www.nasa.gov/
  [37] http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [38] http://www.mtu.edu/
