C80 · Omega Centauri
| Chinese name | 半人马ω星团 |
|---|---|
| Type | Globular cluster |
| Constellation | Cen |
| RA | 13h27m |
| Dec | −47° |
| Apparent magnitude | 3.9ᵐ |
| Hemisphere | Southern |
| Best season | Spring |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Focal length | 中长焦 800–1200mm |
About
Omega Centauri lies about 17,000 light-years away in Centaurus, the largest and brightest globular cluster in the Galaxy, holding some ten million stars with a mass near four million Suns. Visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy star, it spans nearly the size of the full Moon. Its member stars span a range of ages and metallicities, so it is widely thought to be the stripped core of a dwarf galaxy absorbed by the Milky Way. Its core is unusually dense and may even harbor an intermediate-mass black hole. Southern observers can resolve a breathtaking sea of stars at long focal lengths, a jewel of southern deep-sky imaging.