Black Hole Concentration in Star Cluster NGC 6397: Artist’s Impression | Hubble

Black Hole Concentration in Star Cluster NGC 6397: Artist’s Impression | Hubble

Scientists were expecting to find an intermediate-mass black hole at the heart of the globular cluster NGC 6397, but instead they found evidence of a concentration of smaller black holes lurking there. Data from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope have led to the first measurement of the extent of a collection of black holes in a core-collapsed globular cluster.

This animation is an artist’s impression created to visualize the concentration of black holes at the center of NGC 6397. In reality, the small black holes here are far too small for the direct observing capacities of any existing or planned future telescope, including Hubble. It is predicted that this core-collapsed globular cluster could be host to more than 20 black holes.

NGC 6397 sits 7,800 light-years away within the Milky Way galaxy, making it one of the closest globular clusters to Earth in the constellation Ara. This ancient stellar jewelry box glitters with the light from hundreds of thousands of stars. The stars are only a few light-weeks apart, while the nearest star to our Sun is over four light-years away. NGC 6397 was discovered by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1752.

Credit: ESA/Hubble, N. Bartmann

Duration: 24 seconds
Release Date: Feb. 11, 2021

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #NGC6397 #Caldwell86 #StarClusters #GlobularStarClusters #BlackHoles #Ara #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #Visualization #Animation #HD #Video