News Space

A spherical star cluster has surprisingly few heavy elements

Called RBC EXT8, the cluster challenges some theories of how galaxies form and evolve

NGC 6441

Globular clusters contain some of the oldest, most pristine stars in a galaxy. This one, NGC 6441, is one of the most massive in the Milky Way. A similarly massive globular cluster in the nearby Andromeda galaxy has the strangest chemistry ever seen.

Hubble/ESA and NASA, G. Piotto

By Lisa Grossman

- More than 2 years ago

A strange, newly measured clump of stars orbiting the nearby Andromeda galaxy has the lowest level of heavy chemical elements ever seen in one of these mysterious star clusters.