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What shape is a globular cluster?

What shape is a globular cluster?

spherical
Globular clusters are densely packed collections of ancient stars. Roughly spherical in shape, they contain hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions, of stars. Studying them helps astronomers estimate the age of the universe or figure out where the center of a galaxy lies.

What are the characteristics of globular cluster stars?

Globular star cluster are very symmetrical in shape, and are densest toward their centers. Open star clusters are more irregular in shape. Globular clusters orbit in the halo of our galaxy, centered on the galaxy’s center and expanding above and below the galactic disk. Open star clusters tend to orbit within the disk.

What is the meaning of globular cluster?

Globular cluster, a large group of old stars that are closely packed in a symmetrical, somewhat spherical form. Globular clusters, so called because of their roughly spherical appearance, are the largest and most massive star clusters.

What is the difference between a globular cluster and an open cluster?

Globular clusters are old clusters of stars that have remained in a gravitationally bound system. Open clusters are much younger and smaller than globular clusters. They are the recent birthplaces of new stars, which form out of clouds of dust and gas, and contain only hundreds or thousands of stars.

What is the relationship between globular clusters and Milky Way?

So the globular clusters (which contain very old stars) reveal a spherical component of the Milky Way, while the open clusters and other young stars and star-forming regions reveal a disk-shaped component of the Milky Way.

What is the relationship between globular clusters and the Milky Way?

Where are globular clusters found?

the Milky Way
Globular star clusters are known to be located mostly in the great spherical halo of the Milky Way. Spiral galaxies like our Milky Way contain stars, gas and dust, mostly organized into a flat disk containing the spiral arms, but with the addition of a more rounded bulge and halo, centered on the galaxy’s center.

How are globular clusters different from open clusters?

The clusters appear to be very circular (and if you consider their 3D structure, they are spherical). Many of the brightest stars appear red. The stars are very densely packed together, and the density increases towards the center. Open clusters and globular clusters are very different in many ways.

How many stars are in the same space cluster?

While they may not actually be close together, they are found in the same portion of space star clusters groups of stars that number hundreds or thousands of stars binary star a group of 2 stars orbiting each other Multiple star system a system of more than 2 stars orbiting each other open cluster, globular cluster

What kind of star clusters are in the Milky Way?

There are two kinds of star clusters: open clusters and globular clusters. Open clusters are physically related groups of stars held together by mutual gravitational attraction. Open clusters populate about the same regions of the Milky Way and other galaxies as diffuse nebulae, and are found along the band of the Milky Way in the sky.

Are there star clusters in the northern hemisphere?

That is, there are regions of space that contain hundreds, thousands, or even millions of stars. There is one obvious example of a star cluster that is visible to most observers in the winter from the northern hemisphere, and that is the Pleiades.

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