Posted on 04/09/2012 7:34:49 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: If our Sun were part of M53, the night sky would glow like a jewel box of bright stars. M53, also known as NGC 5024, is one of about 250 globular clusters that survive in our Galaxy. Most of the stars in M53 are older and redder than our Sun, but some enigmatic stars appear to be bluer and younger. These young stars might contradict the hypothesis that all the stars in M53 formed at nearly the same time. These unusual stars are known as blue stragglers and are unusually common in M53. After much debate, blue stragglers are now thought to be stars rejuvenated by fresh matter falling in from a binary star companion. By analyzing pictures of globular clusters like the above image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers use the abundance of stars like blue stragglers to help determine the age of the globular cluster and hence a limit on the age of the universe. M53, visible with a binoculars towards the constellation of Bernice's Hair (Coma Berenices), contains over 250,000 stars and is one of the furthest globulars from the center of our Galaxy.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA]
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They now have wonderful medicines for Blue Stragglers. Clears it up in no time flat.
WHY? Does that seem so familiar???
:’) Stellar! Stellar!!!
I think the rest of the Blue Man Group probably cut them loose by now, they were never on time for gigs.
Ha Ha Ha!
Ooooh! Blue, shiny, and sparkly! Ya got me.
One of my favorite objects! In a wider view, there are a pair of stars very close to this cluster (visually anyway) that make it quite a sight.
This link: http://home.comcast.net/~waccoo/m53.htm
goes to some very poor photos I took in my back yard about 7 or 8 years ago.
You may be more forgiving if you realize that I live in a small urban center in South Georgia. At the time of the photo, we lived about 1/2 mile from several factories and 2 miles from the center of the city.
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