Ultraviolet image of the core of the globular star cluster M15, located 30,000 light years away in the constellation of Pegasus. This image shows the

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Ultraviolet image of the core of the globular star cluster M15, located 30,000 light years away in the constellation of Pegasus. This image shows the presence of an unusual population of about 15 very hot (33,000 Kelvin), blue stars at the very core (centre left) of the cluster. They are thought to be red giant stars which were stripped of their outer envelope of cool gas, exposing in this way their hot nucleus. The stripping process occurred because the density of stars in M15's core is so high that they are able to gravitationally pull material from each other. The image was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope.

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Size: 4296px × 5074px
Photo credit: © NASA/ESA/STSCI/G.DE MARCHE & F.PARESCE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: astronomy, cluster, core, cosmology, giant, globular, m15, red, science, star, stars, stellar, stripped, ultraviolet