File:Omega_Centauri_Stars.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Omega Centauri
Sign in to saveAlso known as New General Catalogue 5139, Caldwell 80
globular cluster in the constellation Centaurus
Omega Centauri is a massive ball of hundreds of thousands of stars held together by gravity, located in the constellation Centaurus in the southern sky. It is the largest and brightest globular cluster known and orbits our Milky Way galaxy.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Wikidata facts
- Distance from Earth
- 5.2
- Image
- Omega Centauri by ESO.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- right ascension component of proper motion
- -3.24
- Commons category
- NGC 5139
- catalog code
- 2FGL J1326.4-4729
- apparent magnitude
- 3.198
- right ascension
- 201.697000
- declination
- -47.479472
- radial velocity
- 238
- metallicity
- -1.647
- declination component of proper motion
- -6.746
- parallax
- 0.1368
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~8 min read
Article
Omega Centauri (ω Cen, NGC 5139, or Caldwell 80) is a globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus that was first identified as a non-stellar object by Edmond Halley in 1677. Located at a distance of 17,090 light-years (5,240 parsecs), it is the largest known globular cluster in the Milky Way at a diameter of roughly 150 light-years. It is estimated to contain approximately 10 million stars, with a total mass of 4 million solar masses, making it the most massive known globular cluster in the Milky Way.
Omega Centauri is very different from most other galactic globular clusters to the extent that it is thought to have originated as the core remnant of a disrupted dwarf galaxy. There is evidence of an intermediate-mass black hole in the dense core of this cluster, although this is disputed.